Quondam Iterum
by Shyma Tavrott Lupin
Summary: 22 year old Alex Rider frowned as the doorbell rang once more. Who in god's name would be at the door at two in the morning? Certainly not Ian Rider, his deceased uncle of almost 10 years......Right? Non-slash
1. Return

**Hey all, I know it's been a while since I've written an Alex Rider story, but like I promised all my A.R stories to be, this one is about Alex and Ian**

**This was mainly inspired by Midnight Muse14's amazing story Dead Man Walking, which you must go and read because your life will be incomplete without it XD **

**Anywho, on with the story! Enjoy!**

22 year old Alex Rider pulled himself off the couch as he heard the beeping of his microwave.

He trudged into the kitchen of his condo and pulled a cup of instant noodles out of the microwave. He then tore the cover off the cup and searched the kitchen for a fork. He sighed.

What a day it had been.

It was beyond him how someone as young as himself managed to get run down almost 12 miles by tens of SCORPIA agents, then led on a crazy motorcycle chase(he had taken up riding motorcycles a few years a go when he had found his uncle's old bike) for a few more miles before finally reaching the checkpoint where MI6 had kept a jet at the ready in case of an emergency.

...And that was just before breakfast.

Alex sighed once more before he found himself a fork, shoved it into the cup and trudged back into the living room. He flopped back onto the couch, fished the remote out from the depths of the couch and turned the t.v. on. He frowned uncontently at the screen that showed some dull political talk show and flipped the channel. His frown turned to a grin as some action super hero flick came on. He turned the volume up and settled in comfortably.

He smiled a bit remembering how Jack would have killed him if he had the volume up this high this late.

Jack lived down the block now. Back at their old house. She never did bother to move out of that place. After Alex had turned 18 he needed a new, larger area for his work, research and MI6 possessions. Jack had suggested using Ian's office but Alex found that option unacceptable. Since Ian's death he had left everything as it was; completely untouched. And he didn't want to ruin that. Besides, he'd spent years in therapy convincing himself that Ian's memory was something he could hold onto as a good thought instead of one of sadness and pain. But he knew if he where to step foot into Ian's room and remember what it was when a certain dirty blond, grey eyed man resided in it, all those years in therapy would go down the drain. And suddenly the memory of his uncle would be nothing but images taunting him in his nightmares again.

So he decided since he was 18 anyway he would find a place of his own. And when a fantastic condo like this one went up for sale just down the block, he just had to take it. It had cost a fortune but with the rate that MI6 was showering him with paychecks for the unrealistically horrific missions he was taking, it was nothing. Of course Jack still dropped by every once in a while to free load off of his luxurious things and clean up the mess he called a home so it wasn't all bad. As a matter of fact it was pretty good.

So now here he was, in his enormous condo…all alone.

Suddenly the thought if his loneliness took him over and everything grew very quiet. In his ears, the silence drowned out the blaring t.v and suddenly he felt very alone. Lost in his thought, Alex brought his feet off the cold marble floor and close to himself. And just as he was about to completely recede into the depths of his mind, the doorbell rang out through the entire condo. The melodious tune carried out one full time before it finally occurred to Alex that someone was at his door.

He frowned; who the hell was at his door at ten o'clock at night? For a second he wondered if it was someone from MI6 but then he remembered that Mr. Blunt usually called him up if he needed him. Alex thought about till the door bell went off once more. It was at that point that he lifted himself off the couch, set his cup of noodles of the coffee table in front of himself and began to jog towards the door. He bluntly grabbed the handgun from underneath the shoe rack, hid it beneath the waistband of his pants (just as he was told Ian used to do) and went to the door. He hesitated for a moment before placing his hand on the bronze knob.

He was a very talented and skilled agent only second to his uncle, and he knew how to kill a man in seconds but honestly, it was ten, he was tired (not to mention injured) and he was a bit disoriented. He was just beginning to relax and if he were to be attacked (though he wondered which freak would bother to ring before trying to kill him) at a time like this, he wasn't sure how far he could go without getting hurt.

He sighed and figured he might as well open the door; it was a matter of time before this person broke in anyways. So with a deep breath and a firm grip on the handle of his gun, he wrenched the knob open and his eyes immediately darted to the figure that presented itself behind the door.

But his eyes shot open as he looked up to the face of the person and met the oh so mockingly familiar dirty blonde haired, grey eyed face of Ian Rider.

**Alright, so that was chapter 1 for you guys. Please tell me what you thought and whether I should continue it or not. And if there's something you didn't like make sure to tell me(nicely please =]) so I can fix it =]**

**Oh, plus I thought I'd just let you guys know that Quondam Iterum means Once Again in Latin =] I'm sure you can see why XD**

**Please Review!!**


	2. Explanation

**Hy guys, sorry this took a while, I got a bit stuck on what kept Ian for eight years so I had to really take time to think that through =] So go on and Enjoy!!**

The first thing that Alex did as soon as he saw the form of Ian Rider, was punch him as hard as he could in the jaw. The roughly bearded jaw at that.

Anger suddenly welled up inside of him at this man who was clearly an imposter. Who would dare take the form of his uncle dead of eight years and try to penetrate his defenses? Because honestly Alex didn't think even SCORPIA was this low.

And for this man that dared mock Ian Rider in front of his nephew, he would pay.

So with this thought, Alex charged himself onto the man as he recoiled from the punch. He grabbed the man by the shoulders, tackled him to the ground, pulled out his gun and pressed the barrel directly between the man's stormy grey eyes.

"Whoever your sources are did a very shitty job at fixing you up to impersonate Ian Rider because for god's sake everyone knew that he always kept a clean shave because-"

But the man slowly finished for him "Because John always kept a clean shave…" he paused to register Alex's shocked reaction. "All the time…all 35 years of his life…"

Alex's grip on the older man's collar slacked and the gun was pulled back a bit. But in an instant he regained his hold and the gun found its way to Ian's chest. "Anyone could have known that" he stated firmly.

Ian began to reach into his pocket but stopped as Alex pressed the gun deeper into his chest.

"Hey, relax; I just want to get my wallet out, alright?" Ian said casually.

"If you try anything-"

"I won't" Ian said as he reached into a pocket of his black slacks and as said, he pulled out an expensive looking black wallet. However when opened, a small tattered looking object fluttered out.

Alex immediately reached out and grabbed it in his fist. And upon opening his grip, found his heart skipping several beats.

It was a picture. But not just any picture. This one portrayed himself, almost ten years ago, sitting alongside a much younger looking Ian Rider (a cleanly shaven one at that) on top of two large boulders. The sea shining behind them. Both Riders were grinning wildly, without a care in the world. Well Alex at least.

"Do you remember that, Alex?" Ian asked slowly.

"I…" Alex trailed off as a lump formed in his throat. God dammit he had trained himself better than this! Better than to be weakened by such trivial things. But seeing that picture, something inside of him went off. It suddenly reminded him of the days when his biggest worry was school and his biggest pain was coming home to no uncle. "This was our last vacation before…" Alex paused and suddenly his expression grew cold again "Before you-Ian died."

"There's loads more pictures in there Alex, pictures only I can have" Ian countered "Of, me, you, Jack, Helen, John-"

"That's enough!" Alex growled at the mention of his parents. He shot the gun into the wet black pavement, mere centimeters from Ian's face. "You have some nerve showing up here at my house as my dead uncle and ruining my night!" Oh he would definitely have to call his therapist in the morning.

"Now please hold still while I kill you" he pointed the gun right above Ian's heart.

"How's Jack?" Ian asked so casually that Alex almost believed he really was speaking to his uncle again. Because no one knew how to stare down the barrel of a gun and still remain casual better than Ian Rider. "Does she know why you _really_ bought this exact condo instead of the one down the block, closer to our old house?"

Alex raised a brow.

"The number of your house, Alex, is 35-28" Ian began "My emergency extension at MI6 was 35-29, however when you were younger I warned you against using that line, seeing as it was tapped. This was when I gave you my private extension that was solely used for calls from you. No one knew about it…not even Jack. Extension number 35-"

"-28…" Alex finished for him, stunned and in shock he loosened his grip on the gun. Eyes still wide in shock, he got off of Ian's stomach and stumbled backwards onto the pavement across from his uncle.

"Ian?" he asked softly, in pure disbelief.

"In the flesh" Ian spoke with the ghost of a smile.

"It's…really you?" Alex asked once more.

"It's really me" Ian reassured him.

Alex's eyes suddenly lit up like they hadn't in eight years. And in one swift movement, he did what he never would have dared to do before.

He charged his uncle into a hug.

Ian was a bit taken back and wasn't so sure what to do at first. But then it hit him that Alex had finally accepted it was him. So with that thought he brought a hand up to his nephew's back and returned the embrace.

"God Ian, it's been almost a decade, what the hell happened? How is this even possible?" Alex said with an exasperated sigh. He pulled away from the older man to study his new features.

"Well, after working with MI6 for so long you of all people should know that anything is possible in our world" Ian answered sharply "But I assure you it really is me, and I'll explain everything once we're inside." An odd glint flashed in his eyes "That is, assuming you're going to get off your ass sometime soon and invite me in…"

"Oh, right, sorry" Alex laughed a bit as he stood up, brushed off his clothes and reached down a hand to his uncle. Ian gladly accepted it and once both men were on their feet, Alex turned back to the door behind him.

"Did you use the money I left you for this place?" Ian asked curiously as Alex led him in.

"No, that money is still locked up, all this is out of my own paycheck" Alex shook his head.

"Your own paycheck…" Ian mutter furrowing his brows "Pay this high only comes to agents that work-"

"Work full time on the most dangerous of missions…yeah…that's me" Alex sighed as he unlocked his door and stepped in. And before Ian could protest about his work, Alex lead him in and spoke out to his house "Welcome to the Rider Manor" he laughed. Really, honestly laughed. Just the thought of introducing _Ian_ to his house made him feel oddly good inside.

Ian laughed as well "You've made things good for yourself I see." He said looking around at the condo. He very much liked the modern layout, the smooth curves and the light blue color that almost made it look like glass. He had to say, he was impressed.

"Hang on a minute, I'll get you a drink and then-" Alex started to turn around, but Ian grabbed him by the arm and stared deep into his midnight blue eyes. The eyes that were a mirror of his older brother's.

"God, look at you Alex. You look just like your father-sound just like him too. If I didn't know any better I'd think I was staring at John right now" Ian spoke sincerely.

"Thanks….that means a lot" Alex smiled, equally as sincere "Now come on, you didn't think I offered you a drink because I was being polite did you? You have to see the mini bar."

Ian's fatherly instincts suddenly kicked in and immediately told him to ask what the hell Alex was doing with a mini-bar, but then suddenly he remembered his nephew wasn't 14 anymore.

"Come on!" Alex called as he walked into the enormous kitchen.

Ian walked in after him and found it to be even larger than the living room, and surely enough at the far right corner of the place, there was a mini-bar. Alex was already there, messing around with some of the drinks and bottles.

Ian walked over slowly "So when exactly did my well mannered, shy little nephew become an expert bartender?"

"After he realized therapy wasn't the only thing that helped numb the pain" Alex replied as he clicked open another bottle "What can I get you?"

"Martini, shaken, not stirred" Ian replied shortly as he sat down on a tool next to his nephew. "Numb the pain of what?"

Alex didn't reply. He downed a drink Ian couldn't exactly specify and slid his drink over to him. Ian, in an attempt to ignore the silence, took a sip at it and found it rather tasteful. He didn't think Alex could prepare a drink like this.

And just as he was about to busy himself with the thoughts of his drink, Alex spoke.

"Why'd you leave me?" he asked, his voice suddenly much less vibrant than it was seconds ago. Ian could tell he was caught somewhere in the unpleasant gap between intoxicated and not.

"I-" Ian broke off, he wasn't really sure how to start. "It's a long story, but I guess you deserve to know the entire thing."

"Ya think?" Alex smirked.

Ian sighed "Alright well I guess we can start with about a minute or two after I hung up the phone with you on the drive home, Yassen, whom I heard you did away with, showed up at my window and shot at me. Directly in the places that would instantly kill me. Luckily though, I just barely managed to duck out of their way. However at the same time I lost control of the car, which then swerved off the highway and crashed. I believe Yassen took advantage of that, shot me once more right over…here" Ian said pulling his collar a bit lower to reveal a nasty raised scar. Alex noticed that the one scar was surrounded by several others, all deep and rather painful looking. He cringed a bit. Even he didn't have that many scars on the same spot.

"Before I lost consciousness" Ian continued "When I awoke again I was at SCORPIA base…"

Alex took moment to think his uncle's words over. "Ian…what exactly did they do with you for eight whole years?" He asked raising a brow.

"I was just getting to that" Ian spoke "When I regained conscience the first person I saw was Zeljan Kurst, SCORPIA head. He and I were very much familiar with one another seeing as John and I had picked our numbers of fights with him in the past. He told me despite the fact that he'd been wanting to kill me for as long as he could remember, he wouldn't do it just yet. He explained to me that SCORPIA was developing new weaponry. Things that involved torture to the breaking point. Because he claimed that the most horrifying pain was the pain that didn't kill. The pain that brought you to the brink of death and just left you there. Problem was, they didn't exactly know where the brink of death was. So they needed someone to test their experiments on, to see how far a man can go under their experiments...and who better to use than the one man that had infiltrated their bases time and time again?" Ian ended with a sad smile.

"Eight whole years?" Alex muttered in shock.

"Eight whole years" Ian sighed. "Every single weapon, item, trap, everything you've encountered over your years as an MI6 agent, previously tested on me."  
"And then?" Alex asked quietly, almost afraid to find out.

"And then, a few weeks or so ago, a local gang attacked the base and while most of the assassins were out dealing with the attack, I managed to get a hold of a gun and escape. As you can imagine I was in terrible condition. Sure, they'd fed me and allowed me a place to stay, but only because they needed me alive. They hadn't ever bothered to fix up my major wounds or anything of that sort so as if it wasn't hard enough to escape the little amount of people still remaining in the building, I still had to get away so they wouldn't see me and drag me back." Ian paused to look up at his nephew only to see Alex listening intently. So he continued "The problem was I was injured, weak, I hadn't seen daylight in about eight years and I had no idea where I was. Luckily for me, my body decided to give out on me once I found a little settlement nearby. When I woke up again I was at the house of an old couple that lived in the settlement. They had given me what little medical attention they could for the severity of my injuries and had taken care of me. But as soon as I woke the first thing I did was call MI6 and let them know I was alive and for the time being, stable. They ran some tests, made sure it was really me and then wasted no time to track my location and bring me to a legible hospital immediately. I've been there for the past week. They insisted in keeping me longer…but the second I could walk…I had to let you know…" Ian concluded with a deep breath. He looked up and found Alex was no longer looking at him, but tracing the rim of his glass with a finger.

Ian figured this was quite the blow for the young man, so he allowed him time to his thoughts. He returned to his drink as well.

But after a while Alex spoke, in a very low, hoarse voice. "Your funeral was terrible. They couldn't find your body…I know now why, but they used an empty casket. A whole bunch of MI6 people came. Plus me and Jack…and that was it. It was dreadful. I didn't cry, you know…"

Ian raised a brow slightly at the random statement.

"More like, I didn't let myself cry" Alex continued "I was angry at you really. I hated you for leaving me like that. I hated you for officially making me alone in this cold world. I hated you for not loving me enough to live for me."

"But I did…" Ian said slowly "Do you think I got by eight years a sane man by thinking about fish and chips?"

Alex chuckled a humorless chuckle "I was 14, the teenage angst had already kicked in and I'd already convinced myself that you didn't love me… you never did."

Ian opened his mouth but Alex spoke first.

"I forced myself to think that you never loved me. And it probably caused me more pain than any bullet to the chest. It was what made me willingly go to therapy…when I was 16" his voice wavered a bit. Ian could tell there were unshed tears behind it. "I know it makes little sense…I was causing myself pain. But again I was 14, and you deserted me-and I didn't know what else to do, how else to act. So I just ended up going around in circles. And eventually, I drowned it all out with alcohol and money and…" Alex suddenly faltered. He didn't bother complete the sentence.

Ian stared hard at his broken nephew, feeling a bit bad at what he had become.

"You do love me…right?" Alex whispered softly.

"Alex, of course I do, how else-" but before Ian could finish, he was taken into another hug. Once again he was taken by surprise, for it was a swift and slightly rough embrace. But as soon as he felt the form of his 22 year old nephew, shaking, things became much easier. He didn't hesitate to bring his arms around Alex's back and return the embrace.

He knew the young man deserved that much. After 14 years of lacking the love normal uncles gave their nephews, and then eight years of thinking that said uncle was dead, he deserved to let the tears out.

"Hey, it's alright" Ian said a bit awkwardly "It's ok." And just as he was about to offer some more words of comfort, the doorbell sounded once more.

Both the Riders cursed the terrible timing of whoever it was that was at the door.

Alex pulled away from his uncle, a bit embarrassed at his outburst. He was a grown man fro crying out loud, he mentally slapped himself. What would Ian think of him now? Needless to say he probably looked like hell now…

And as if Ian had read his mind, the older said "I'll get that, in the meantime why don't you get yourself washed up?"

Alex nodded, not looking up to Ian's eyes.

The doorbell went off once more before Ian got off his seat and headed for the door. He momentarily lost himself on the way there, but eventually (after hearing the bell go off about six or seven times…) he made his way to the large, fancy door.

It vaguely occurred to him that it may be an assassin or someone just after him in general trying to catch him off guard. In which case it would be wise to have Alex by his side. Nevertheless, he stepped forward and with a grip on the handgun at the waistband of his pants, wrenched the door open.

But much to his sheer, unbridled shock, it wasn't an assassin or a kidnapper. It wasn't even someone relatively related to his work. Ian simply stood there staring at the more than familiar features of the person in pure shock. It was someone, who upon seeing his face was equally as shocked.

It was Jack.

**Oh no! Cliffhanger! **

**Lol I hope you guys liked this one because I'm not too happy with it =( And I hope Ian and Alex aren't too OC. I don't know, for some reason this just didn't come out as good as it did in my head. Ah well, you tell me =]**

**Oh, plus, what do you guys want to see happen with Jack and Ian? Should they have like a brother sister sort of bond or should it be romantic? Because I'm fine with writing either or, whichever one you guys prefer. **

**Feedback is very much appreciated, so please Review!! ;]**


	3. Christian Kraell

**Hey guys, I'd really intended to upload this Chritmas Eve but I was in NJ and I didn't have the greatest access to internet there so I couldn't get this up in time. But here it is now, and I promise I'll have another one up by New Years =] Enjoy!**

**And those of you who also read Savin' Me, I'll have chapter 5 up in a bit for the same reason =]**

Upon seeing one another, both Jack and Ian froze completely. Neither able to move, speak or even think correctly.

And finally when they summed up enough courage to say something, they both spoke at the same time.

"Jack-"

"Ian?"

Thankfully at that moment Alex came up behind his uncle.

"Who is it Ian and what are-" he froze upon looking up and seeing Jack "Oh...oh-this is awkward...geez Jack, what are you even doing here? Weren't you-"

"Alex, I heard a gunshot and when there's a gunshot at ten at night there's only one place on the block it could have possibly come from-but that's not the point! What is this?!" Jack ranted in a slightly delerious tone.

"Um...wow, this must look a bit odd..." Alex stuttered, not sure how to explain the situation.

"A bit...odd?!" Jack shouted "A man I've known to be dead for eight years now...is standing in front of me and all you can say is this must look odd?! God knows this is probably another on fo your crazy experiments, or one of MI6's!"

"Jack, it's a long story that I'll tell you very soon, but it really is me" Ian spoke softly.

Jack calmed a bit at the sound of his voice. The voice he hadn't heard in eight years.

"I don't believe you" Jack said only half heartedly.

"I understand" Ian sighed "I believe you came to speak to Alex" he said backing away slowly. But he only got so far before Jack's heart stopped at the thought of losing Ian...again. So before she could lose sight of him, she reached out, grabbed his arm and pulled him back into a hug.

Ian wasn't the only one surprised by this sudden movement. Jack was a bit surprised herself; eight years ago this kind of thing would have been unheard of. And it was that thought that made her suddenly realize, that as unrealistic as it may have sounded, she was hugging Ian Rider- and pull away from him very quickly and awkwardly.

"I-sorry about that" she added looking down "It's just been a while, you know?"

"I know" Ian nodded "Why don't you come in?"

"Sure" Jack answered and stepped in.

As soon as the two Rider men along with Jack stepped into the living room, Alex found himself an excuse to leave. "Anyone hungy? I'll order some pizza" he said, and ran off upstairs, leaving Ian and Jack alone in the living room.

At first Ian busied himself by looking around the enormous living room, at the pictures that hung around the walls, the awards, the diplomas, and anything else in the room that wasn't living, breathing or a red head.

But when Jack approached him, he didn't hesitate to speak.

"He looks just like his father" he said staring at a framed picture of Alex with some ten other men he didn't exactly recognize.

"I'd say he looks more like you" Jack replied "Since he usually keeps his hair short like yours."

Ian turned around to look Jack in the eyes. His light grey reflecting her light brown. They simply stood that way for a while.

"It's been a bit empty around here without you..." Jack whispered.

"Coming from the person that constantly said there was not difference between me being home and out on business?" Ian replied equally as low.

"I-" Jack wasn't sure how to respond "Things were different back then."

"Yes they where" Ian sighed.

"Listen Ian, there's a lot of things we need to get straight. I need to tell you some things-"

"I do too" Ian cut her off.

Jack didn't bother to reply. Or rather she wasn't sure how to reply. She wasn't even sure how exactly Ian felt about all this. It was always like that; she could never read him. He sounded like he wanted a speak up and tell her everything, but his face was still set in stone. Emotionless and completely unrevealing. So she remained silent.

It suddenly occurred to her how close she was standing to her former employer and something inside of her went off. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, but it was odd. Like butterflies in her stomach. Dammit, she was so close that she could clearly identify his cologne. Oh yeah, that was definitely *****Davidoff Cool Water. And just as she was about to say something, she felt a vibration in her pocket and a song unfamiliar to Ian began blaring.

Jack blushed a bit, stepped back and dug her hand into the pocket of her jeans. And after fishing for a bit she pulled out her phone, hit a button and pressed the sleek little device to her ear.

Ian furrowed his brows a bit. That wasn't the phone he remembered Jack having...

The last birthday that Ian had caught of Jack's before he was captured, he had gotten her a phone. She didn't have to know though, that it was MI6 modified with several functions both for her and his benefit.

He thought that she would have kept it...but looks like she'd gotten rid of it.

"Hey" Jack called into the phone.

Ian heard the vague voice of a male on the other end.

"Yeah, I'm at Alex's place now" Jack answered.

She paused for a while before speaking again "Yup, he'll be more than happy to come. He went up to order some pizza but I'll tell him when he gets back."

While she paused again, Ian noticed Alex coming back down the stairs towards them. And just as he reached the bottom, Jack hung up and tucked it back into her pocket.

"Was that Chris?" he asked approaching them.

"Yup" Jack replied "He was asking if you wanted to come with us tomorrow to the movies."

"Yeah, totally!" Alex said enthusiastically.

"Who's Chris?" Ian asked slowly.

"His name's Christian Kraell, his brother's and MI6 agent so he knows what I mean when I say I can't come to the movies cause I'm in Beijing" Alex chuckled "He's a great guy, real fun." Jack's expression suddenly became a bit unsettled.

"Alex-" she started but he seemed not to have heard her.

"He's Jack boyfriend."

Ian felt his hand twitch. Nothing more. His expression remained the same, his poise remained the same. His hand simply twitched.

But to anyone who knew him, they knew, that was a lot. So the second it happened, Ian closed his fist and shoved it into his pocket, not knowing that Jack had seen it.

"That's him right there" Alex continued pointing to a picture on the wall over Ian's shoulder.

Ian turned to see a picture of Jack and an unfamiliar young man. He was a good head taller than her with dirty blond hair and extremely light eyes. His chin was rested on Jack's shoulder and his arms around her waist, fingers entwined loosely at his stomach. He wore a warm smile matching that of the red head in his hold.

"He looks like a good man" Ian said so softly that he was a bit surprised when Alex heard it.

"He is" Alex nodded "You saw Jack's phone?"

"Alex please-" Jack began once again, but was ignored.

"Chris gave it to her a couple of years ago" Alex finished.

Ian's mouth fell open the slightest bit "A couple of years ago?"

"They've been going out only forever. Funny thing really, knowing Jack who can't hold down a guy for more that a week" Alex said, earning him a bash across the head from Jack "It's true. And he's a lot nicer than any other guy she's liked too."

"How long exactly is forever?" Ian asked ignoring the last statement. He narrowed his eyes.

"A couple of years, six or seven I think" Alex answered "I wasn't exactly the first person to know" he glared playfully at Jack.

Ian opened his mouth to speak but Jack beat him to it.

"So when's the pizza getting here?"

"They said they'll be here in 15 minutes-I don't trust them though. A half an hour and the whole pie is free, not that I need it to be free or anything but you know..." Alex rambled. The topic of Chris seemed to have slipped his attention span .

"No Alex, we don't know" Ian smiled, casually walking around Jack to his nephew. He avoided her gaze as he did so.

"Always so literal" Alex rolled his eyes as his uncle put an arm around his shoulder.

"So, do I have a room for the night, or am I going to have to sleep on the floor?" Ian asked as playfully as he could make himself sound at the moment.

"I have 2 extra bedrooms, one of them is Jack's for whenever she stays over so I guess the other one is yours now" Alex shrugged "Come on, I'll show it to you, it's right next to mine."

So with that Ian followed his nephew upstairs to his room without so much as a glance back towards Jack.

"Jack, are you staying over tonight?" Alex called back "Or are you heading back to Chris's place?"

Jack felt her stomach drop. She really wished Alex would keep his mouth shut about Chris. She got the impression that the topic made Ian uncomfortable, especially when Ian continued up the stairs as though Alex hadn't spoken.

"I'll stay here..." she said softly.

"Great" Alex smiled and headed up after his uncle.

The next time Jack ran into Ian was when Alex had called them both down because the pizza had arrived (in less than a half an hour, much to Alex's displeasure.) Ian was walking out of his room, sleeves of his black shirt rolled up to reveal slightly wet arms. His dirty blond hair was slicked back with droplets of water that were dripping onto his face. Jack took it he had just washed up.

"Jack..." he stated as if it was a complete shock for them to run into one another in the same house.

"Ian, listen about Chris, I know you-" Jack began but Ian was quick to cut him off.

"I think Chris sound like a fantastic young man and it sounds like he's been taking fine care of you in my absence. I hope to meet him soon" Ian said quickly and with one last glance at Jack, he walked around her towards the stairs.

"Alex, I've only been missing pizza for eight years, pay the man and for god's sake get me some food" Jack heard him call down as he made his way down the stairs. She sighed and rubbed her forehead before walking after Ian. If he said it was ok then she might as well just believe him.

And she would go on and believe him because what she didn't know was that after acting completely casual at dinner and after both she and Alex had gone to bed, Ian was at the mini-bar. Almost all night.

***Haha, Davidoff, Ian, Ewan Mcgregor, pun intended XD **

**Alright, so since all of you wanted a romantic relationship between Jack and Ian I decided to go with that(since I like that pairing very much as well =]) I hope what I did with it came out alright, cause I'm not very happy with this chapter, but you tell me =] **

**Plus, anyone notice how much Chris and Ian have in common? I really didn't pick that up till reading the chapter over on fanfiction's document manager lol. Blond hair, light eyes, MI6 brother 0.o lol**

**Reviews are loved and appreciated =]**


	4. Nightmare

**Hey guys, just like I promised another chapter before New Years =] Hopefully Ian isn't too OC in this cause I really think after so many years the man would slip up his emotions a little bit XD My last ever update in '09 Woohoo! And the last time in '09 that I ever say Enjoy! XD**

Ian Rider could not sleep.

Try as he might he simply could not sleep.

So for about the millionth time he rolled onto his side and stared into the darkness of his room. It was four in the morning and he had returned from the mini-bar five minutes ago…or five hours….he wasn't too sure. This period in which sleep evaded him seemed to stretch on forever. And the main reason for his inability to sleep would be the millions of thoughts that plagued his mind.

Ian Rider had lost everything. Everyone and everything. After the loss of both his parents, then 2 mere years later his brother and his wife, Ian thought he had lost it all. There was nothing left to be taken from him. However today he found that statement was very much wrong. It was today that he had officially lost everything.

He'd lost the place h once had in the lives of the two people that he cared about most in the world. Alex and Jack. Because as much as he disliked to admit, both of them had moved on.

Eight years was a long time and they'd gotten over the fact that he would no longer be a part of their daily lives-not that he was a part of their daily lives before his kidnapping…Maybe that was why moving on was easier for them. Because he was barely even there to begin with. And now even that little part that he held was gone. Both Jack and Alex had better people to spend their lives with.

And for god's sake, this Christian character…

Ian really wanted to convince himself that there was something fishy about this guy. Like that girl that John had dated back in his college years that turned out to be an assassin bent on murdering him. But Ian knew Christian wasn't any undercover assassin or anything. His brother was an MI6 agent for god's sake; he had about as much of a chance of being a spy as Ian himself. He was perfectly normal, just another man. But the one thing that hurt Ian the most about him was precisely that.

Christian Kraell was everything that Ian was not.

He was always there for both Jack and Alex. He constantly called to check up. They were always welcome to crawl into his lap and gain comfort. He was social, kind and openly affectionate, exactly what they wanted. They didn't need someone as bland, secretive and reserved as him. Especially Jack.

Jack was seven years junior to Ian. She was 28 and he was 35. Yes Ian was only 35, despite the fact that he looked like he was 40 at the least (he suspected the beard and the stress marks had something to do with that.) Ian had not personally met Christian but just by seeing his picture, he could tell the man was several years younger than him. 30 at the most, though Ian doubted he was even that much. Ian knew he was young, vibrant and free from the worries and paranoias that plagued a man like himself.

And as much as he hated to admit it, Christian also pertained to every duty to Alex that he could not as an uncle.

Yes, he had lost everything.

Ian turned over to his back and stared up the ceiling. Story of his life.

Eventually as he blinked into the darkness, his conscience began to slip. And just as he was about to fall into an unsettled but nevertheless some kind of sleep-A blood curling scream pierced the air. And it was unmistakably from Alex.

Instantly, upon instinct and from having done it several times before in his life, Ian jumped out of bed without a second thought, pulled the handgun out from underneath his pillow and shot out of his room (he didn't even bother to hide it because honestly, who did he have to hide it from now? Eight years ago it was understandable, but now? No.) As he ran out of his room, he saw Jack come out of hers behind him. It was at this moment that Ian was glad Alex's bedroom was just down the hall (like it always was, for reasons he was sure Alex knew now) because down the hall was somewhere he could reach in five seconds flat. But as he had learned in his years, five seconds was the difference between being alive and well and having a bullet through your skull.

So he dashed forward and without hesitation, burst into Alex's room. But instead of seeing an armed stranger over the body of his nephew, as he had expected, he saw Alex was safely in bed, though thrashing uncomfortably, he was safe.

A nightmare.

Ian should have seen this coming. Though he wondered why Alex was still plagued with nightmares, the number of times Ian had leapt out of bed and barging into Alex's room with a gun only to find his nephew having a nightmare was countless. He was suddenly hit by a strong sense of déjà vu. Alex had so many nightmares when he was younger that this had almost become a normal thing for Ian. He would constantly be having nightmares about his parents, despite never having met them. The closest thing was having seen pictures of them around Ian's room. He hadn't even been aware of how they had died, since Ian never bothered to tell him. Because Ian Rider might be able to take down dozens of trained spies with a broken leg, one functional lung and a broken collar bone but he could never even dare to retell the tale of his brother's death. It would hurt a million times more than a million broken limbs or punctured organs. Ever.

Nevertheless ever since he was four Alex had been having nightmares about his parents and Ian would be needlessly barging into his room at the dead of night. And…it felt good to do it again to a degree-twisted and a bit selfish as it may have sounded. Because it was just like old times…except Alex was 22 now instead of 14.

He suddenly felt Jack bump into him from behind and turned quickly to look at her.

"Sorry, I didn't see you-"

"Nightmare" Ian whispered quietly, cutting her off.

"You mean the usual" Jack grinned a little. Ian didn't hesitate to return it. He tucked his gun into the waistband of his pants and walked over to Alex's bed, eying the entire room over once as he did so. He seated himself carefully at the edge of the bed and gently shook his nephew by the shoulder.

"Alex" he called softly "Alex, wake up."

When Alex didn't respond, Ian did something that had come so naturally that he was hit once again by deja vu

"Alex, wake up" he commanded in the strict voice he clearly remembered using all those years ago towards his nephew.

Alex immediately jolted awake (a very much expected reaction.) He looked around in a dazed manner before recognizing himself to be in his own room, out of the terrors of his nightmares. He looked up at Ian and with the most confused expression one could sum up, he asked "Why is it that the 'Alex, wake up' in a strictly commanding voice is all I ever hear from the outside world when I'm having a nightmare?"

Ian cracked a smile "Because you know better than to disobey my commands…even in your sleep."

"Heh, yeah I do" Alex smirked as he slowly sat up.

"Are you alright?" Jack called from the door.

"Yeah…I think" Alex replied.

"Good, I'm going back to bed. I've had it up to here with your mid-night intrusions young man" Jack said playfully as she turned to leave, giving the Riders some privacy.

"Parents?" Ian said once he heard the door to Jack's room click shut.

"First in eight years" Alex replied with a dry chuckle. "I remember once, when I was six I think. I asked you how my parents died. You looked at me real weird-I only realized over a decade later it was because I'd never seen you when you looked like you were about to cry-and you said to me 'I am your father's brother, Alex' -you never did like the word uncle and then you said 'I will help you when you need it, I will answer anything you ask me. But don't ever…ask me that again.' That stuck with me. I never needed an 'or else' part to know you'd really mess me up if I even dared to ask again. So I never did" Alex paused to gage his uncle's reaction, but the older man was simply listening. So he continued "And then years later when I found out myself how my parents died I suddenly realized why you didn't want to tell me. Because I didn't even know them and it caused me unbearable pain to hear it. And I can't even imagine what it would be like for you, who knew them all your life to retell it."

"I'm gad you understand" Ian said simply.

"Me too" Alex sighed "It's funny how I didn't have nightmares about my parents when I found out about how they died, and yet the second you step back into my house…" he trailed off with a small smile.

"It's a sign" Ian chuckled "The heavens are telling us we need to get things back to normal…and that I have a lot of making up to do."

"I like this" Alex smiled looking down.

"Like what?" Ian raised a brow.

"How you actually talk to me now" Alex looked back into his uncle's grey eyes "Not the whole, speak when spoken to, random pieces of advice, mysterious thing you used to do before. You really talk to me now…"

Ian chuckled and looked to his side "It was hard back then…actually talking." He wanted to say more but Alex seemed to understand by just those words so he left it at that.

Silence reigned over the two for a while in which both were lost in their own thoughts. But after a while Ian spoke up.

"Well, it is…" Ian paused to glance over on the digital clock at Alex's bedside table "4:42 in the morning, and both you and I have to be up tomorrow so I'll be heading back, and you try to get some sleep. A good sleep, so I don't have to have about three heart attacks in the same second and run over here again with this" he flipped out his gun and spun it twice in his palm.

Alex laughed "Will do, Ian."

"Good" Ian smiled and ruffled his nephew's hair as he stood up. He glanced back at Alex once before walking out of the room and heading back to his own.

He felt good really. Having done something like this for his nephew after so long. Like he had said, there was a lot he had to make up for…and this was a start. He'd finally done something useful since his return.

Ian sighed as he stepped into his room, knowing that he would probably spend another hour or so tossing and turning, trying to fall asleep. He placed his gun back underneath his pillow and hesitantly climbed back into bed. But much to his surprise, he second he lay down, he felt oddly relaxed and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep almost immediately.

**I like this chapter =] Mostly because I love those little moments between Ian and Alex XD What about you guys, what'd you think? **

**Reviews are loved for the last time this year =]**


	5. Stories

**Hey guys, here's another quick chapter for all of you. Just a little thing I wanted to share before I started with the chapter, for some reason when I was thinking up of this chapter I sort of imagined Chris to look kind of like Jude Law XD I don't know, what about you guys, you think Jude Law fits as Chris? If not then who would you picture him as?**

**Oh and speaking of Jude Law, how many of you saw Sherlock Holmes? I mean it was so awesome I can't even begin to describe it in words. It fit perfectly in characterization, plot and just about everything else. Loooooved it =] Not to mention the relationship they showed in the movie between Holmes and Watson, it was fantastic. It really resparked my interest in Sherlock Holmes XD Who knows, I might even put up a few stories XD I'm really praying for a sequel =] **

**Anywhoooo onward with the story! Enjoy!**

Ian Rider woke up to the smell of something burning, then the unmistakable voice of Jack screaming "ALEX!" in rage and then Alex screaming "IAN!" in something along the lines of panic.

A second later, his 22 year old nephew burst in, shot across the room in a record half a second and leapt over Ian onto the bed, backing up as far as he could against the wall. "Save me Ian, she's coming!" And before Ian could even ask, Jack came in right after him, stopping at the door and glaring at both Riders.

"Ian, _your_ nephew caught fire to the kitchen…again!" she growled.

"It was an accident! I promise!" Alex shouted throwing his arms up over his face "I live a simple existence of cup noodles and frozen foods, this cooking thing is completely out of my league!"

Ian laughed as he sat up "What exactly were you trying to make?"

"Eggs…" Alex muttered.

"And what's the damage?" Ian turned to Jack.

"Half the kitchen is signed" Jack sighed.

Ian frowned "Good, we could just dust it off. You are so lucky this house is made of glass young man or else you'd have burning wallpaper to deal with like I did when your father tried to cook."

Both Alex and Jack smiled a bit to this.

"I guess I'll head down and start making a real breakfast" pause to glare at Alex "You boys wash up and get down." And with that Jack backed out of the room and headed downstairs.

Alex relaxed a bit and sat down on the bed and crossed his legs with a sigh.

"Why were you trying to cook Alex?" Ian asked with a smile.

"I don't know I guess I wanted to surprise you or something, but that failed miserably" Alex shrugged "Hey…can you tell me a little more about my dad?"

Ian furrowed his brows "What, about the cooking incident? Cause let me tell you that man had the capability to burn even water-"

"No not the cooking, funny as that sounds, I've heard so much about his heroism and how brave he was…I was never told though…what he did…d'ya know what I mean?" Alex tilted his head a bit to the right.

"Yes I know what you mean" Ian nodded "Well, I guess I can share one story. There is one I remember the most, it was when I was 18 and your father was 25. The two of us were out on a mission together like we usually were when suddenly-"

_John Rider cursed loudly as he heard sirens begin to bellow behind him. _

"_Ian, hurry the fuck up or we'll both die in here" he growled to his younger brother, who was a step behind him. Both Riders shot swiftly through the wet grass under their feet_

"_Christ John, you're not the one carrying the packet of all important papers that will cause the end of the world if even one is lost" Ian whispered back. _

_John chose to ignore that last statement and hurried along. It was about at that moment that several enormous circular lights flashed on in the night sky, searching for both the Riders in the field. _

"_Shit" John muttered as he picked up his pace, his brother following the movement. "Our chopper is waiting just a few feet out of the edge of the property, if we can just make it out of here, we'll be good to go" he informed the younger._

_Ian simply nodded. But being as young as he was and having been an agent for only two years, he recoiled a bit when the sudden sound of shotguns firing filled the night sky. _

_And as if he had expected his brother to do so, John spoke "Come on Ian, keep running." He knew they must have been spotted and that security was trying to shoot for them. However they had covered some pretty good distance from the mansion and it would probably be hard for them to make a shot from back there. John revisited this thought though, when the sound of the gunshots seemed to have doubled. Each bullet slicing the air could be heard loud and clear, and more than once John had felt the dirt blow out from underneath his feet. He was sure they had reinforced more men to find them. _

_He knew there was still much distance they still had to carry before they left the property of this mob boss that they had invaded but at the same time he tried to push the thought from his mind. Having negative thoughts at this time would not help him. He was in a well paced sprint when two especially loud shots fired simultaneously someplace behind him followed by a rather loud thud. _

_Not bothering to waste the time to stop, John simply turned his head to look, but found his heart skipping several beats when he saw his brother was no longer behind him. _

"_Fuck, no!" he cried out suddenly realizing the younger must have been shot. He wasted no time to screech to a halt, double back and dash for his brother. _

_With a sickening thought, he realized that he had lost his brother a while back, because he had to run some distance and dodge several oncoming bullets before he came across the teen laying on the ground, clutching his left leg. John immediately dropped to the ground next to him._

"_Here are the papers, take them and go" Ian whispered shoving a sealed package into his older brother's chest. _

"_Keep the papers, I'm not going anywhere without you, do you understand?" John said quickly, placing a hand behind Ian's back, helping him sit up "Either we get out together or we don't get out at all."_

"_No god dammit, take the papers back, you've got a lot more to lose than I do" Ian said weakly, resting his head on his brother's chest. _

"_Where are you shot?" John asked quickly._

"_Left leg…right shoulder" Ian answered._

"_Alright, hang on" John said as he swiftly pulled his younger brother into a battlefield carry, stood up and made a run for it. He could make a few feet with Ian's weight (considering Ian didn't really weigh much to begin with…) He would not go down, and if he did then he swore by all he held dear to him, that Ian would not go down with him. _

_And it was with that sole thought that, despite eventually gaining a flesh wound to the arm himself, he carried on to the end of the property, to the MI6 chopper that awaited them. And before anything, before handing the papers over, before giving a mission briefing, he demanded medical attention for his younger brother. _

"And then what happened?" Alex asked intently.

"The obvious of course" Ian sighed "I lost consciousness before we reached the chopper, but the next time I awoke was in a hospital, your father sitting right there next to my bed, fast asleep."

Alex smiled.

"At the time your father and mother had been married for about a year and were about a month from having you. She told me that he'd been there whole 18 hours that I was out" Ian nodded "One hell of a brother that man was. I'd be dead about a thousand times now if it weren't for him."

"But in the end…he couldn't even save himself" Alex muttered a bit morbidly.

Ian was a bit startled by the coldness in the statement, but he chose to remain silent.

The comfortable silence between the two men was interrupted however as a voice unfamiliar to Ian shouted from downstairs.

"Alex! My man, where be you in this enormous maze you call a house?!"

Alex seemed to have recognized the voice far more than Ian, for he immediately shot up, all thoughts of his father forgotten and ran out the door. "Oi, Chris! Over here!" he heard his nephew call.

Ian's heart skipped a beat or two upon realizing that Christian Kraell was in the house. He quickly got up, changed, got himself cleaned up and headed downstairs, both eager and anxious to finally meet this Christian guy.

About five minutes later Ian stepped into the kitchen and saw his nephew and Jack along with another man talking and laughing animatedly over breakfast. The man was just as he had looked in the pictures and Ian recognized him to be Christian.

"Hey! Welcome back, man, I thought you'd gone back to sleep!" Alex laughed as he spotted his uncle.

"Ah, you must be Ian then" Christian spoke as his eyes fell on Ian as well.

"The one an only" Ian replied, a bit too cheekily for his taste. He walked in and reached over to give the other a quick but firm handshake.

"I've heard tons about you" Christian smiled "Not only from my brother, but from these two as well-especially these two. Come sit" he said pulling a chair back for Ian. And as much as the older hated to admit, he had to say, Christian was very well rounded. A very nice man indeed. The thought only extracted a mournful sigh from Ian.

"What's wrong? Surely my cooking doesn't look that bad?" Christian raised a brow upon hearing the older man's deep sigh.

"No" Ian said quickly, snapping back to reality "Not at all, it looks rather good." He suddenly registered that Christian said he had cooked it…how long exactly had he been here before he made his presence known?

"So Christian, Alex was telling me that your brother was an MI6 agent. What's his name?" Ian asked as he sat down in front of his already served food.

"My brother's name is Jacen-"

"-Kraell" Ian said, it suddenly clicked to him who Chris's brother was "a former marine recruited by MI6 eight years and six months ago after a display of not only immense bravery out on the field, but adept skills with a weapon and his bare fists" he spoke almost mechanically "Yes, I remember him. He was a rookie back when I used to work there. I believe I took my second to last mission with him."

"Yes, I've heard no end about that mission and your heroism back when the two of you got kidnapped. He said you took seven-"

"Seven bullets for him, yes. It was worth it though, if it weren't for him we wouldn't have been able to escape, rookie or not" Ian nodded.

"He'll be thrilled to hear you're alive. He's gotten eight years of experience now" Christian said.

"And I, twenty" Ian replied.

"Ah yea, Alex was just telling about your eight year kidnapping. Do you plan on returning?" Christian asked.

"I do, I'm afraid I've been doing this a bit too long to back down now. Of course it'll take some time before I can return but eventually, I will. After all I wouldn't miss the world to work alongside my old colleagues and most especially Alex" Ian answered with a smug grin.

"Interesting" Christian nodded.

"Can't wait to wok with you either, old man" Alex spoke with a mouthful of bacon.

"I leave for eight years and suddenly fourteen years of hard work goes down the drain" Ian shook his head.

"I tried I swear, but he was just too much" Jack shook her head in mock shame.

Alex grumbled something incoherent with a still stuffed mouth.

The other three adults laughed and returned to their breakfast. Christian was the first to finish; he brought his plate to the sink, washed it and turned back to the others.

"Well I was going to take Jack and Alex out to the movies, but as of now I think it would be best for you guys to spend some time together. It has been eight years after all. So I'll be heading off" Christian smiled as he stepped towards Ian. Then brought his hands down on the older man's shoulders "I'm leaving them to you Ian, go out and enjoy yourselves."

"I will" Ian said with a chuckle.

"It was nice meeting you, and I'll be back later tonight to check up, alright?" Christian said as he gave Ian another firm handshake.

"Alright" Ian nodded.

Christian then walked over to Jack, passing Alex along the way with whom he shared a brief knuckle touch. He then walked up behind Jack and kissed her on the cheek before she turned to meet his lips for a kiss. However through peripheral vision spotted Ian looking at them, her face turned a deep shade of red and she pulled quickly away from the younger.

Christian simply laughed, gave her another kiss on the cheek before he took off.

"Get out Ian! Go have fun, make Jack and Alex happy or I'll have to find you!" Ian heard Christian call back from the living room. A moment later, there was a click signaling the opening and another signaling the closing of the door.

"Great guy, eh Ian?" Alex smiled after his friend.

"Yeah…" Ian chuckled. Having met Christian he had made a decision. And that was that if he had to have lost Jack, he couldn't have asked for a better man to lose her to.

**A couple of things I have to tell you guys. One, I went back and found that a whole bunch of things were out of place so I went back to fix those. Another part to that is, I know the ages are a bit off but bear with me, it's for the sake of the story =] **

**Two, yes John has a bit of a bad mouth but I can imagine any other person cursing much more than him in such situations. **

**Three I hope Christian came out alright. He was meant to really be a good guy who sincerely cares for Alex and Jack. Hopefully that got done.**

**And finally the next chapter is where the plot really unfolds and everything gets messed up once again. This one was a bit short for a chapter but the next one will be much longer, I promise =] So stay tuned and I'll have the next one up real soon =]**

**Review!**


	6. Intruders

**Wow, I am on fire with this story! My Savin' Me readers are going to kill me for updating this every two days, and that every half a month XD Alright, so like I promised, this chapter is where the actual plot starts unfolding. Next chapter is where it begins, but this is what builds up to it. So prepare yourself for adrenaline, suspense and angst. **

**Oh and I hope Ian didn't come out too oc here. I mean he gets a little emotional but I really hope that doesn't throw off his character...be sure to let me know what you think of that ;] Enjoy!**

"Alright, to avoid getting hunted down by Christian, the wonderful fellow, I thought I'd take you two out, your choice as to where you want to go though. I'm up for anything" Ian announced as breakfast came to a close and he along with his two companions gathered in the living room.

"Wow, you really want me and Jack to choose? Sure you don't just want to drag us to the opera or something?" Alex said as he threw an arm around his uncle's shoulder, leaning upward a bit to match Ian's height.

"I could if you want" Ian said with a slightly mischievous look.

"With that look on your face, I'm not taking the chances" Jack said as she seated herself on the sofa in front of the two men, both of which laughed at her comment.

"How about that park that you used to bring me to back when I was 14? You know that old *****military park where I used to pull those crazy stunts that Jack would always get mad at me for?" Alex suggested "We can try out that restricted area that you'd never let me go to. I've gotten good there so I might give you a run for your money old man" he grinned.

"You've been there?" Ian raised a brow, turning to look at his nephew.

"A couple of times to train. I kind of get why you never let me in there when I was younger. Those courses is brutal…" Alex shuddered at the memory "But it served as excellent training. I started back when I was 16."

"The age your father showed it to me…" Ian muttered a bit absentmindedly.

"Huh?" Alex raised a brow.

"Nothing-After that, how about we go to that restaurant bar that your father and I always went to when we were your age?" Ian suggested, changing the topic "The Royále, was it called?"

"Yeah! I know that one! Ash brought me there once!" Alex pointed out, completely forgetting the fact that Ash was someone he strongly disliked as well as a traitor to no end.

"Yes well, he would occasionally accompany us as well so it's only natural" Ian said, understanding his nephew meant no harm. "So it's settled? We'll go to the military park and then The Royále?"

"Well, it's useless to tell you boys that, that park is dangerous beyond belief" Jack sighed "And Ian, as if you're not scarred enough, you're going to compete against your hyperactive nephew in that death trap!" to this Ian nodded with a light grin "So I guess I have no choice but to accept the offer."

"Great, Alex, go get dressed; you don't want to go out into a military park with your pj's" Ian teased, poking at Alex's plaid flannel shirt. Alex smirked indignantly. "And I suppose we should do the same" he said to Jack. She nodded and bounded off the couch. Alex pulled his arm off of Ian's shoulder and jogged towards the stairs. Ian himself sighed and walked off after his nephew.

About a half an hour later Ian emerged from his bedroom, dressed in loose comfortable clothing, prepared for the training ahead. He had packed some of Alex's extra clothing (though Alex was a good size smaller than him, he would live) in a small backpack that was now slung over his shoulder. He had even taken the opportunity to shave. Ah it felt good to be cleanly shaved again.

He took a deep breath of air before calling out "Alex! Hurry up or we're leaving without you!"

"Oh shut it old man!" was the response he received. He sighed and headed downstairs.

And just as he hit the last step, he noticed Jack digging through a spare closet about a foot from the back of the staircase. And then, using stealth and silence that could only be attained by a man of his experience, he quickly walked up behind her and peered over he shoulder in an attempt to see what exactly it was that she was tearing through the closet for.

It was only when Jack felt the slightest touch of warm air upon the beck of her neck, did she jolt out of the closet and spin around to see who or what had intruded upon her personal space. However upon seeing Ian standing less than an inch's space away from her, she froze.

"I-Ian, what the hell are you doing breathing down my neck like that?!" She mustered up, not daring to move.

"I was curious. Why exactly did you have your head buried in there?" Ian replied calmly, frozen himself, though in a much less obvious way than Jack.

"This is a spare closet, I have some extra clothes in here" she answered quietly. Even at the present moment, she could feel the small breaths of air that the man in front of her was letting out. It suddenly occurred to her how fast her heart was pounding in her chest; when had that happened?

"What were you looking for though?" Ian asked so casually, Jack wondered if he even noticed how incredibly close they were. It was even more ridiculously close than yesterday when they had first seen one another. This time she could tell so much more. The shirt he was wearing, it was overshot with cologne to drown out the very faint smell of laundry. It was *****Davidoff again, just not Cool Water. This time it was Water Frozen. He had sprayed it twice near his right collar, twice near his left, then once at his lower left abdomen and once at his lower right. And aftershave-that was a bit overdone too-Davidoff Echo. He cut himself shaving, it was very faint but Jack could see it. The smallest little trace of blood just at the edge of his jaw. She noticed him flinch the slightest bit as she turned her head and her hot breath touched the cut. He hadn't even shaved completely; there was still a very light shade. Extremely light but she could see it perfectly-

"Jack?" he breathed.

"I…a pair of shoes actually...special shoes that I…" her low whisper trailed off as his shadow fell completely over her as he inched just a bit closer. And much to her own surprise, she moved closer as well.

"This is wrong…" Ian whispered, only half heartedly "Christian's treated me fantastically…" he trailed off. It though, didn't stop either Ian or Jack from leaning forward towards one another, and just as their lips lightly traced across one another's, a thundering crash erupted through the house.

Ian jerked back abruptly and turned around to look. Suddenly, two voices came from the main door.

"Are you positive this is the house?"

"This is the place, Alex Rider's residence. And there is no doubt; if the boy is here then the uncle is here. We're here for the uncle but the boy would make a perfect extra catch."

Jack saw Ian's face pale instantly. And in a swift movement, he placed his arms around her waist and pulled her silently behind the staircase. He held her against the wall, arms still securely around her waist, and then put a finger to his lips in a gesture to remain silent.

She nodded quickly, and he turned his head in the direction of the voices.

"How long did Rider think he could go without us finding him?"

"Really, he escapes, lucky shot but he honestly didn't think we'd let him go and forget about him, did he? After all, he already knows way too many of our inner works to be let go of now."

"Probably already told those MI6 bastards what he knows."

"Two weeks was just way too much time for him to be out in the open."

"Shouldn't we be sneaking in here like we were told to do?"

"Yes, but look at it this way, the younger one is what, 19, 20 years old? He's still a boy; we can take him no game. That leaves the older one alone, unless the girl is with him. And we can take her out without a single effort. Rider might be an excellent fighter, but even he can't defend himself fully against us while he's injured as bad as we left him."

Ian turned back to face Jack, his expression clearly telling he was cursing very loudly in his mind. Jack gave him a worried look. They both vaguely wondered where the hell Alex was because it would have been seriously useful to have him around. But then again Ian wasn't terribly worried. People underestimated him all the time; looked like Alex picked up that one from him.

He listened intently as the footsteps of the two men clicked their way to the kitchen, then headed upstairs. It suddenly occurred to Ian that his nephew was upstairs, and SCORPIA men were not to be underestimated. He had to help Alex out.

So once the footsteps faded, he looked Jack dead in the eyes "Listen to me, and listen good Jack, it's a matter of time before they find Alex. He'll need all the help he can get but I can't just leave you either, alright?" he whispered quickly.

She nodded a panicked expression upon her face. It killed Ian to see her like this, but it had to be done.

"But I can't just leave you either. Chances are there's back up waiting outside. So since it's me they want I'll draw them away for a short amount of time. I want you to run in that time, ignore anything you hear or feel, don't look back and run, do you understand?" Ian demanded.

"Yes-no" she choked up "Why do you have to put yourself in danger? Can't you do your MI6, James Bond thing and just take them out?" she whispered, tears blurring her vision at the thought of Ian putting himself in harm's way.

Ian gave an emotionless laugh "They spoke the truth Jack, I am a weakened man. I cannot fight them off like I used to; I'm afraid they've damaged me too much for that, for the time being at least."

"No, don't do that to yourself" Jack whispered, putting her hands to his chest and gripping his collar weakly. It was a futile but relevant attempt to stop him from leaving. "Please."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Starbright, do you have any other ingenious ideas?" Ian spoke with humor in his voice.

"Stop laughing, this is serious!" she choked out.

She froze as she heard the footsteps again. Her breath caught in her throat and she looked up at Ian's unnaturally calm grey eyes.

He simply smiled down at her. However, with the palm she still had over his chest, she could feel his heart beat, though not rapid and panicked as she thought it would be. Rather it was incredibly slow, yet each beat was heavy and felt as though it would tear out of his chest any second.

Jack was brought out of her thoughts as Ian's grip around her tightened the slightest bit. She could tell he was about to run off and practically throw his life away.

"Wait Ian, where's your gun? Don't you always have a gun?" Jack stuttered, panic and frustration flooding her emotions.

Ian laughed once more "Jack, I don't carry guns when I'm about to after about fifteen years, confess to the woman that I love with my mind, body and soul."

And then, with the sickeningly bright smile still on his face, Ian Rider backed away from Jack Starbright and bounded into the open of the living room.

It was at that point that Jack's entire world froze for a second. Ian was really walking away from her. Walking away to his very death. For a moment she considered actually screaming after him, but then realized that it would completely nullify the effect of his sacrifice.

"Hey there, I remember you two!" Jack bit her lip as she heard his unusually cheery voice. She backed up against the wall once again, keeping herself from seeing anything. "You guys are Zeljan's right hand men aren't you?" he spoke again.

She heard the clicking of two pairs of feet moving and immediately knew they were the two SCORPIA men. Ian was wearing sneakers, they wouldn't click. She assumed they were moving closer to him.

She mentally winced at the very thought.

"Where's your nephew Rider?" one of the men asked.

"He is out for the day, but it's not him you want is it?" Ian spoke in a deathly calm voice "It's me and I will willingly go with you."

"Really?" the man sounded skeptical.

Jack really wanted to peek over the stairs and look at what was going on, but she knew she probably couldn't handle looking at Ian's stoic face while he was staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Really" Ian replied.

"Alright, put your hands behind your head, Rider" the other man said. "Yeah, there we go." There was a sudden thud.

"Great, now scan him down for weapons" one spoke.

It was at this moment that Jack had the overwhelming urge to look over to the scenario. And as much as her mind screamed at her not to, she did it. She looked over and saw Ian, chest pressed against a wall, hands behind his head, and two men patting him down for weapons. And as both of them bent down to check the lower half of his body, Jack saw his head turn the slightest bit in her direction. She caught the smallest glimpse of those grey eyes before he turned his head back and his right hand moved. From its loose position behind his head, Jack saw Ian's right hand point quickly towards the direction of the door. He pointed hurriedly once more before returning his hand to an inconspicuous position. At the same moment, the two men stood back up.

"Alright, it's good that you've made things easy for us" one of the men said, looking at Ian. Jack noticed both of their backs were turned towards her, giving her the perfect chance to run. She took the opportunity to quickly dash out from behind the stairs and run behind the large futon couch.

But it seemed her movement was made a bit too briskly, because the second she reached the couch, the two men turned. "What was that?" one of them growled.

"Nothing" Ian spoke instantly. And at the same time, one man took a step towards the couch and Ian, in a sudden movement, shot his arm out and jabbed the man at the throat with as much force as he could sum up. The other man immediately grabbed Ian from the back and even though the MI6 agent elbowed him in the stomach, and made an effort to break free, it did not stop him from drawing his gun.

Needless to say he wasted no time to pull out his 9mm, press it to the nearest spot that he could find on Ian Rider's body and fire.

Jack watched as Ian's entire body suddenly froze; almost as if it were suspended in time. And then, the man that Ian had struck lashed out and kicked him harshly in the stomach, bringing him to his knees. His partner pulled Ian's arm behind his back and dropped him to the ground, sitting securely on his lower back to make sure he didn't escape.

And as Jack looked out from behind that couch she saw nothing but Ian's face which was now pressed to the sleek marble floor, a small trail of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, connecting with the blood from his shave cut and flowing to his chin. She saw the vivid smile on his face and the glint in his eyes before the man pinning him to the ground pressed the gun to the side of Ian's head.

"Hey, relax; don't blow his brains out alright? Kill him, nicely" the other man scowled. The gun was hesitantly lowered to some other part of his body which Jack couldn't exactly see before-

Before another loud crack sounded and another bullet was fired straight into Ian's flesh. And it was when, and only when Jack saw Ian's glowing grey eyes flutter closed, did the scream tear out of her throat. The scream that she couldn't even help. The one that she simply could not stop from coming out.

"IAN!"

If only she knew that was the last thing Ian heard before he lost conscience.

* * *

"Alex! Hurry up or we're leaving without you!"

Alex heard the unmistakable voice of his uncle call from down the hall. The young man rolled his eyes through the shower and screamed a reply:

"Oh shut it old man!"

He smiled a bit thinking about Ian's reaction and returned to his shower.

Things had just been so fantastic for him lately. The return of his uncle, the fact that said uncle was being a completely different person with him…it was all just so amazing. He almost couldn't believe it. He almost couldn't believe that for once in his life, things had turned out perfect. It was hard to believe…that less that 24 hours ago he was tackling Ian Rider to the ground because he thought he was an imposter. A chuckle issued from Alex's throat at the thought. It was amazing how well Ian just fell into his life again. There was no readjusting process, or anything. He was just there again and that was it. They were finally going to have their happily ever after. Fantastic wasn't it?

A faint thud suddenly caught Alex's attention. It was probably Jack, being the clumsy person she was. Alex brushed it off and turned to continue his shower, but as something nagged at the back of his mind, he turned the water off. He might as well get ready any way. Ian sounded like he was going to kill him if he didn't get out soon.

So he stepped out of the steaming hot shower and reached around the blindingly foggy bathroom for his clothes. And just as he slipped on his loose t-shirt and a nice pair of cargos, he heard a very distinctive noise from downstairs. As though something had been shattered. It even made him jump a bit.

He suddenly grew a bit unsettled. He hurriedly reached a hand out and cleaned the fog off the mirror, then ran a comb quickly through his hair once before dashing out of the master bathroom of his bedroom. His body gave a sudden tremor as his foot connected with the cold marble tiles on the ground, but he ignored it.

As quickly as he could, he pulled a spare backpack out of his dresser and threw some extra clothing into it. Then just as he was about to glance at himself one last time in the mirror, he heard the shattering noise once more…except this time it sounded much less like shattering and so much more like a gun shot.

Alex furrowed his brows. Why would there be gun shot downstairs? A sudden feeling of nausea filled his throat but he shoved it back down and forced himself to calm. It was probably just Ian practicing or something like that. Nothing to worry about.

Alex grabbed his backpack, threw it over his shoulder and started for the door. And then, as if he had an afterthought, he reached back, pulled his handgun out from underneath his pillow and held it close to his chest.

But the moment Alex was about to step out of his room, he heard something that caused his nausea to act up again and panic shoot through his system.

"IAN!"

It was a scream from the unmistakable voice of Jack, and not just any scream, it was a blood curling, terror filled, horrified scream. Alex froze and listened for the longest time, and when he heard nothing, he shot out of his bedroom.

"Jack?" he called down the hallway as he dashed towards the stairs. "Ian?" Silence.

Suddenly, he grew impatient and decided that the stairs were way too far. He stopped abruptly, gripped the rail to his side, and jumped off the second floor to the first. "Ian?!" he called out, trying desperately to keep the panic out of his voice. "Ian!" he screamed, heat burning at his eyes.

And then, he spotted it. His eyes suddenly fell upon a body lying perfectly still near the staircase. His heart skipped several steps as he recognized the body to be that of his uncle, the traces of blood across his body, scaring Alex even more.

He wasted no time to run over to the body of the older man and crouching down to his height.

"Shit" Alex cursed loudly, seeing the bullet wounds on his uncle's body. One at the right shoulder and another at his lower back, just barely missing his spine. He was alive, Alex could hear his heavy ragged breaths, but just barely.

Alex glanced up and looked around; who on earth could have done something like this in such a short time, especially without him noticing? He turned his head and for the second time, his eyes fell upon something he dearly wished he could have gone without seeing. Upon looking to the side, he saw the unconscious form of Jack, laying against the closest wall.

Alex quickly scrambled up from Ian's side and ran to hers. He was relieved to see that she didn't seem to have any physical wounds, not nearly as bad as Ian's. "Jack…hey, Jack, can you hear me?"

He watched as Jack's light brown eyes slowly fluttered open in response to his voice. At first she seemed startled to see someone so close to her, but as she recognized Alex, she visibly relaxed, then tensed again. "Alex! Where are they? Are you ok? Where's Ian?!" she rambled, desperation in her eyes.

"It's alright, it's gonna be alright, and Ian is going to be fine. We just have to get him medical attention immediately is all, but he'll be alright" Alex said in an attempt to calm her down.

"Yes, but where are _they_?" Jack choked out.

"They-who's they?" Alex raised a brow.

"The two men, the ones that broke in-they-they shot Ian" Jack replied hurriedly.

"The two-" Alex cut himself off as the smallest noise caught his attention, and in the span of a single second he spun around, drew his gun and clipped one of the intruders behind him viciously on the head. Alex then wasted no time to stand, knee the man in the face (bloodying his nose.) He grabbed the man by the collar and pulled him up to eye level. "Who are you?!" he growled.

"I think you know" the man drawled, despite his situation.

_SCORPIA._ Alex's mind answered for him. "Why did you come here?"

"To get you two famous Riders of course" the man laughed mirthlessly.

"Shut up! What did you do to my uncle?!" Alex roared at the man, bearing his teeth, a look of sheer hate on his face.

"I shot him" the man dared "Twice."

Alex let out a low growl in his throat before he grabbed the man by the face and wasted no time to snap his neck in two. He let out a breath before turning back to Jack "You see Jack, it was just some SCORPIA scum that-"

But Alex never got to finish his sentence because the next thing he heard was Jack scream his name while pointing at something behind him, and before he could even turn to look, there was an ear piercing bang, a white hot pain shooting up his back and then….Darkness.

***The idea for the park was inspired by the incredible story Where The Heart Is by AmariBell. It is just such a fantastic story about Ian it's-it's- I can't even describe it in word. You guys seriously have to read it. I'll even give you the link, go read this story, just do it. Here's the link: http :// www . fanfiction. net/s/ 4273471/1/Where_the_Heart_Is **

**Just kill off the spaces when you put this in the address bar because ff doesn't allow links so I had to put the spaces.**

***lol what is with this man and his Davidoff?? XD Ah, Ewan McGregor, we love you to no end XD**

**Oh lord, I hope this chapter came alright. I love Ian and Alex to death and I really had to beat ideas out of myself as to how they can possibly be weakened. I mean I didn't want them to simply get beaten up because their characters are meant to be near invincible. So I really hope Ian or Alex didn't seem a bit like pushovers here 0.o And about Ian, the only reason he was taken out so fast was like, really, if you suffered multiple untreated injuries, infections and health problems for eight whole years, you'd be kind of messed up too, even if you are the real life equivalent of James Bond XD **

**Reviews are loved! =]**


	7. Zeljan Kurst

**Hey guys, here's the next one for ya. Sorry it took a bit, I was a little stuck towards the middle of this. Still here it is, Enjoy!**

**Oh and for my Savin' Me readers, I'll have Chapter 6 up later today so you can wait for that =D**

Alex Rider awoke feeling like he'd been shot.

_Probably because I was…_A voice in his head retorted. But he didn't seem to be bleeding, or in undying pain so he was safe for the time being.

Upon opening his eyes, he found his vision eye level to the floor. He slowly listed his head and looked around. His mind began to take quick notes as he had trained it to.

_Poorly lit_

_Barred doors_

_Grey floors_

_Cell...we're in a cell. _

_That could only mean we were captured. We, we, we. We means Ian and I...and possibly even Jack. But SCORPIA has no interest with Jack so she's probably not with us. _

_They either left her alone or...killed her- _Alex shook the thought out of his head. For now all he needed to do was find Ian. Which he soon found wasn't much of a task because as soon as he looked up he saw his uncle's body sprawled across the ground a few feet away from his own.

"Ian" he called, a bit surprised at how hoarse his own voice sounded. When the older man didn't move, Alex got on his hands and knees and made his way to him.

"Ian" he called once again, this time shaking Ian gently by the shoulder. He noticed how the bullet wounds he remembered seeing on his uncle's back and shoulder seemed to have been roughly bandaged. "Ian, come on, wake up" he urged. His heart suddenly clenched a bit at the lack of response and a thousand and one things that _could _be wrong with Ian shot through his mind. After a moment's silence though, he decided to use a little something Jacen had taught him on their first mission together. He gave a swift lick to his wrist, allowing the cool air to make it sensitive to heat. He then brought the wrist close to Ian's nose. The smallest puff of warmth on his wrist assured him his uncle was still indeed alive and breathing.

"Ian!" he called much louder.

This time the older man stirred a bit. He turned to face Alex as his grey eyes fluttered open the slightest bit "John?"

"No..." Alex shook his head sadly "It's me, Ian. It's Alex."

"Alex?" Ian furrowed his brows. And then suddenly, as if the name reminded him of all the events prior to his waking, he sat up so quickly it made Alex jump a little. "What the _fuck _happened?!"

Alex simply stared at his uncle's sudden outburst. Never in all his years had he ever heard the older lose his cool enough to curse.

"Excuse me" Ian sighed "My 15 year old instincts are kicking in again. You could ask your father, I was a nightmare as a teenager" he shook his head distractedly.

"There's just one problem with that; he's dead" Alex deadpanned "Did you hit your head or something before you blacked out?"

"Possibly" Ian shrugged "I was shot twice..." he trailed off as his right hand instinctively went to the spot on his shoulder in which he was shot. He was a bit surprised when his hand ran into the rough texture of the gauze wrapped around the wound. "Oh, no" he suddenly groaned.

"What?" Alex said, looking more alert.

"If they've treated our wounds...that could only mean they're planning on doing to us, what they've been doing to me" Ian said slowly.

Alex suddenly understood the oh no. "No, no, no, I am not letting them do that to you again" he growled a bit protectively.

"I am deeply touched, Alex but I'm afraid there isn't much you can do at the moment" Ian shook his head "Plus if they've got you along with me, you're likely to suffer the same fate as myself, again there isn't much you can do."

"I can break us out of here, that's what I can do" Alex muttered standing up, though wavering on his feet for a moment.

"The bars are electric charged, Alex. 600 volts" Ian called after his nephew.

"I suppose you found that out the hard way" Alex stopped.

"Yes" Ian frowned "Unfortunately enough. Damn it, I can't believe I let this happen again." He slammed his fist against the ground in a frustrated (and rather un-Ian like) manner.

Alex was a bit taken back upon seeing his uncle this way, but then remembered he was human too. "It wasn't your fault Ian, you were injured. I should have been there for you; I should have been watching you back."

"This isn't your fault either, Alex. You are still very young. You are still allowed to make mistakes. For me though...this is the second time, and honestly this is getting ridiculous" Ian sighed as he pulled himself up to sit up straighter, in a more comfortable position.

"Yeah, but I bet your were twice the agent when you were my age" Alex sighed.

"I was just a few years older than yourself when I was captured eight years ago" Ian replied.

"That doesn't count" Alex mumbled.

The two fell into a slightly awkward silence in which Alex leaned back against the nearest wall and stared unconciously out the bars of the cell. And Ian wrapped his light coat tighter around himself, losing himself in his thoughts.

Suddenly the clicking of a door brought both uncle and nephew's attention to the direction of the sound. It was followed by a slam and the unmistakable clicking of fine dress shoes.

Both Riders visibly tensed as the clicking drew nearer until the form of a man stepped in front of their cell. The man was tall, broad shouldered and very much brawlic. He has a well sculpted jaw to accompany his cold alarmingly calm eyes. He had jet black hair that was slicked back. He wore a crisp tuxedo to top of his sharp features.

Alex narrowed his eyes at the man, but Ian's heart skipped several beats as he set eyes upon Zeljan Kurst. However his voice remained perfectly calm as he spoke.

"Zeljan! Came to see us yourself I see" he smirked.

"Yes, of course, Ian. Why would I not come to personally re-invite my most favorite prisoner?" Zeljan Kurst smiled in an unsettling way.

"Pleasure's all mine" Ian said sourly, looking away.

"And you, young Rider" Kurst spoke slowly, moving towards Alex "It's an honor to finally meet you, Alex. I assure you, you'll be having lots of fun here."

"Leave him alone, Kurst" Ian growled without looking up at the man. As a matter of fact, his eyes were closed in a calming manner, as though his mind was elsewhere "It's me you want. Let him go."

"Ian-" Alex began to shout back, but Kurst paid no mind.

"Ooh, a little protective, are we?" Kurst stepped back.

"Let. Him. Go" Ian growled louder.

"Yes, yes, so he can go run off to your MI6 friends and call them all to rescue you, is that it, Ian?" Kurst smirked.

Ian didn't respond.

"Why did you bring us here?" Alex joined the conversation.

"Guess" Kurst grinned.

"What did you do to Jack?" Ian asked, completely off the topic.

"Who Jack?" Kurst asked, the grin still on his face.

"You know who she is" Ian replied.

"Ah yes, Jackie, Ian's little girlfriend" Kurst spoke mockingly "No! No! Not Jack, please, not Jack! Every night in his sleep, Jesus, I could hear him from my own mansion at night! And he wonders why we drugged him!" Kurst taunted continuously.

Alex tensed. Ian remained perfectly still "Where is she?"

"Still at your home I believe" Kurst rubbed his chin "My men where going to bring her too...but that annoying MI6 boy, what was his name? Jake? Jared? Ah yes, Jacen. Him and his brother showed up. Now you can imagine, with the brother guarding Jack with his life, and Jacen-the man that Ian Rider trained-out for my mens' blood, they were forced to make a run for it with just you two."

Ian's eyes suddenly shot open. He vaguely wondered what Jacen and Christian were doing back at the house, but pushed that thought aside for later.

"You trained Jace?" Alex asked, a bit shocked.

"For a short amount of time, yes" Ian said slowly "I was a senior, he was a rookie. Blunt paired us up without a second thought. But that's not the point. If you harmed Jack-"

"Yes, yes, you'll kill me, I know, I know" Kurst rolled his eyes "Protective of your girlfriend too!"

"She's not my girlfriend" Ian mumbled under his breath. Nevertheless the other two men heard it clearly.

"Aw, what happened, Ian? She doesn't love you anymore?" Kurst said in mock sympathy.

"No, no she doesn't, she loves Christian" Ian said a bit forcefully.

"Ah, Jacen's little brother? Interesting" Kurst nodded "Eight years spent becoming my friend cost you a lot didn't it?"

"That's it, leave Ian alone!" Alex growled, lifting his back off the wall.

"This one tells me to leave him alone" Kurst said pointing from Ian to Alex "And this one tells me to leave that one alone" And pointed back "What to do, what to do…" Kurst glanced at his wrist "Ooh, would you look at the time. Well, gentlemen, it's been a pleasure chatting but I have a very important meeting to attend to, but once I'm done, rest assured I will be back. And then we'll have some fun; my researchers have a new toy for you, Ian."

"Lovely" Ian deadpanned.

"Venomous as ever" Kurst chuckled and with one last glance to Alex, he turned and clicked away.

Once he was out of earshot, Alex approached his uncle "Ian, don't listen to him-"

"What do you think I've been doing for the past eight years?" Ian snapped a bit more harshly than he had intended.

Alex shrunk back; well that certainly shut him up. He leaned back against the wall and slowly slid to the ground. A thought played around in his head, but he gave much thought to it before deciding to speak it to his uncle. What did he have to lose?

"She does love you, you know" he broke the silence.

"Who?" Ian almost laughed at how stupid he sounded.

"Jack" Alex played along "She may have been dating Chris for seven years but she's loved you through the entire thing. Not that she's unfaithful to Chris or anything, but the look in her eyes every time someone says your name, or the way she moves away from Chris when you're around-there's no doubt in my mind about it, Ian."

Ian remained silent for so long Alex vaguely wondered if he had even heard him.

"How about you?" Ian finally spoke "Have you a girl yet? Or are you still that scrawny white kid in school that everyone picks on?"

Alex opened his mouth to ask how on earth Ian had known that but the older answered the question for him.

"I wasn't as blind regarding you as I made out to be, Alex" Ian answered "I knew about Sabina Pleasure, I knew about that geometry test you forged my signature for on the 3rd of March eight years ago, and I definitely knew about the guys that picked on you. I knew them down to their names. It's a wonder why you didn't find it curious how they stopped picking on you completely after the eighth grade."

"You got through with them?" Alex chuckled.

"I cared about you a little more than I made out to as well" Ian replied.

"I'm going out with her" Alex smiled.

"Pleasure?" Ian raised a brow.

Alex nodded "She's in the U.S now. Some trip for college credits. It's a shame, I'm sure she would have loved to meet my 'dead' uncle."

To this even Ian chuckled.

"Ian?" Alex asked after a bit.

"Yes?"

"When we get out of this…if we do-which I know we will-do me a favor and tell Jack you love her" Alex said softly.

"No promises kiddo. I have doubts about my making it out of this" Ian shook his head.

"What are you saying?" Alex smirked.

"This might be the last one for me. But if I fall I swear by everything I know, you will not fall with me" Ian spoke adamantly.

Alex wasn't sure how to reply.

"You don't have to" Ian spoke as if he had read his nephew's mind. "All you need to know is that you are young, and bright. There is much ahead of you and if my life ends yours will not. I suppose that's something I should have told you before my disapearance eight years ago."

"Yes...it is" Alex whispered so quietly even Ian's ears didn't pick it up.

**Yes, I know, it's a rather odd place to leave off but I thought I'd just leave it there. This chapter has had enough intense moments, best save a couple for the next one =] Because true to Zeljan's words he will have some fun in the next one. Oh and for those of you who don't remember, Zeljan Kurst is the head of SCORPIA.**

**Plus, I know it's minor but I hope the whole Sabina thing is alright. I mean I wanted Alex to have a love interest but I didn't want to make up and oc for something so trivial as a character whom I won't even have appear in any of the chapters. So yeah, hope that was alright =]**

**So, I hope you guys liked this one, I'm not too sure about this chapter so feedback would help =]**

**Review!**


	8. Acid Drip

**Alright guys, here's the next one. Sorry it took a bit =] But it's a relaltively long one, plus we're introduced to Jacen Kraell, Christian's brother in this one =] **

**Enjoy!**

Jack Starbright awoke feeling tired and exhausted.

For a moment she considered returning to sleep, but suddenly the sound of two voices made he rethink.

"Shit, shit, shit!" the first voice growled "I can't believe I let them get away like that!"

"It wasn't your fault-they almost killed me the second we walked in-you took that bullet for me" the second voice spoke.

"Still, I should have been able to do more! After I pulled Jack away I could have done more! God dammit, Ian was right there! I could practically touch him, I could have grabbed him before the agent did!"

At the sound of Ian's name, Jack's mind went on full alert. All the events prior to her fainting came back to her and suddenly she was completely awake. She opened her eyes and attempted to sit up…a little to fast.

The second she did, her head spun violently and a sick feeling washed up inside her.

"Jack!"

Jack suddenly registered her surroundings. She was in her room, still in Alex's house. Seated at the foot of her bed was the young man she recognized to be Jacen Kraell. He seemed to be wrapping his right forearm in gauze, his dirty blond hair was tussled and a few minor bruises could be spotted on his face as though he had just had it out with someone. And dashing quickly towards her was none other than her own, Christian.

"Easy there" Christian said softly as he put an arm around Jack's shoulder and eased her to partially lay back down.

"Chris, what happened-Where's Alex, where's Ian?" Jack rambled, her mind reeling. Last time she remembered, both Ian and Alex were laying on the ground in front of her, the closest thing to dead.

"Ian and Alex…they…" Christian hesitated "Jack, those men that broke in, they were SCORPIA agents. They were after Ian-they wanted to bring him back with them. And unfortunately, they got a hold of both Ian and Alex before we could stop them."

"What?" Jack's heart suddenly skipped several beats "Why?! Why would you let that happen?" she screamed at Christian, throwing her fist repeatedly at his chest before the grief set in and tears began to brim her eyes. Her blows slowly faltered and she melted into his arms, crying.

Christian calmly accepted her changes in emotion and held her as she broke down.

"Jack…" Jacen spoke softly, his eyes glued to the blood that was seeping though his bandaged arm. "I'm sorry, if we'd just gotten here a second earlier…"

"Why were you two here to begin with?" Jack asked quietly, still in Christian's hold. She didn't intend of letting go anytime soon; she wanted so desperately to feel safe, to feel like everything was alright.

"I caught Chris a few blocks away from here and he told me he'd just had breakfast with you guys" Jacen began "And he told me he'd met Ian too and well, I might have only known Ian for about a year or so but I still do respect and look up to him dearly. He is still like an older brother to me, and I was eager to meet him, knowing he really was alive. Chris told me he'd be more than happy to walk back with me if I was going to visit, so we did just that. The second we walked in through, the agent fired at us-I took that hit and tried to get you into safety before I fought it out with the agent. You were unconscious so Chris brought you up here to look after you. Meanwhile I fought it out with the agent and tried to hold up with my right arm feeling like it'd just been ripped off. And believe me Jack, I tried so hard to get Alex and Ian back to safety, but the agent had called back up on me and took the two of them before I could do anything. You don't know how much it hurt me-angered me to see them taken like that. Believe me, the first agent learned that full well."

"Four bullets straight to the skull, I've never seen Jace angrier" Christian nodded.

"Thank you, Jacen" Jack swallowed.

"No. Don't thank me yet. I will bring them back" Jacen said adamantly. "I've already assembled a squad. We got word from earlier sources that Kurst has been sighted in southern Germany, assuming he was setting up a new base there since Ian exploited his last one. We're heading out in 20 minute's time to Germany. The less time wasted the better."

"Thank you…" Jack whispered.

"Not a problem" Jacen sighed "I need to head out, but Chris will be here with you as long as you need. Please, get some rest and take care."

"I will" Jack nodded. And with that Jacen pushed himself off the bed and strode out of the room. Leaving Jack and Christian alone to reconcile.

* * *

"Why is it…"Alex sighed "That this kind of thing always happens to us?" He groaned loudly and slid down the wall into a sitting position next to his uncle, shoulder to shoulder. He turned to face the older man with an almost hopeless expression on his face. They'd been stuck in their cell for hours (or at least what seemed like hours) with no contact whatsoever from Kurst or any other living breathing being other than each other. Alex was almost starting to wish for Kurst to come back.

"Runs in the family" Ian replied "Fate has a way of getting even with us Riders. Your grandparents, Tony and Adrienne Rider, they passed away two years before your parents. Do you want to know how they died?"

Alex simply raised a brow.

"Mum and Dad were both MI6 agents" Ian paused as a sour look came over Alex's face "Yes, ouch, I know. Anyway, to make a long story short they went out on what I knew at the time to be a "business trip" for the bank they worked at…"

"Royal E. General" Alex completed for him.

"Yes, and let's just say they went…and never came back" Ian sighed "John was 23 at the time. He was supposed to go with Mum and Dad on that one, but he was stuck at home with a broken leg from his last mission, so he had to stay back. Thank the heavens he did." Ian took a deep breath "I found out about MI6 the same way you did, Alex. Except I guess John was there to soften the blow somewhat. He'd already been an agent for seven years. But other than that…I had it the same."

"If you knew what it was like, why the hell did you do it to me?!" Alex half yelled.

"I didn't mean for you to get stuck with MI6 just like I didn't mean to go get kidnapped then assumed dead" Ian replied. "Your father's will stated that if anything ever happened to him, I would be your legal guardian-even though Ash was your godfather. This is why he made sure I was aware of everything he wanted to make of your future. Of course like any other parent, your safety was his number 1 priority; he didn't want you to end up as a part of MI6 like he and myself. However he did want you trained, should any enemy of either of us decide to break in or attack. That's exactly why I gave you proper training as you grew up. I trained you the same way I was; completely unaware and coincidentally. However MI6 was short on agents around the time you were 9 or 10 and they asked me if I wanted to hold a spot with them for you…"

"And you said yes?" Alex flinched.

"No, I did not say yes" Ian clarified "I told them until there was no other option- until I was dead and you had no other way to support yourself, I didn't want them have anything to do with you. Unfortunately though, that happened a bit faster than I had intended it…"

"Blunt didn't tell me that…" Alex raised a brow.

"He didn't want you to think I signed you up for this" Ian sighed.

Alex gave him a look as though to say "How would you know?"

"We spoke after I got out of the hospital" Ian replied "Alex, I know that when you become a part of this world of ours, this world of crimes and secrecy, it's very easy to feel alone, feel like everyone is against you and that you're alone. But all these people around you, everyone from Tulip, to Blunt, they do care about you. We may not show it but we do mean it. When you were younger I would not have hesitated to drop kick you to the ground when we sparred-but that didn't make me love you any less, did it?"

Alex gave a dry chuckle "I guess not. I'm still not to sure about Blunt though….that man can be very…"

"Blunt…yes, I know" Ian laughed a bit, pun intended. "But look at it this way. When I called Blunt from a village in the middle of Russia, telling him I was alive, he personally arrived there with Tulip and 15 other agents in less than 5 hours. From London."

Alex didn't respond.

"And when I wanted to get out of the hospital early to let you know I was alive, he threatened the nurse into letting me out, then gave me a rider over" Ian continued "And no, he didn't do it just because I was kidnapped on a mission for him-even he's not that indecent."

"I know…" Alex sighed. "I guess you're right."

"No, you know I'm right" Ian raised a brow.

Alex chuckled. "You know Ian, I'm glad you're here with me. God knows, I've been kidnapped before, but nothing on this large of a scale. You on the other hand seem to have experience…"

"Yes…eight years of it" Ian smirked.

And just as a comfortable silence began to come over the two, the oh so familiar sound of the door and the clicking of dress shoes reached their ears.

"No…" Alex groaned. He shrank back a little, and though he would never admit it he was a bit afraid. Ok, he was very afraid, but not a soul would ever know that despite being a grown 22 year old man, at the moment he felt like a little boy wanting to hide behind his idolized uncle whom he knew would make everything alright.

"You're back" Ian smirked as Kurst stepped into his line of vision.

"Fine observation, Ian" Kurst replied. He then eyed Alex curiously "Aw, look at little Alex Rider hiding behind his big powerful uncle. How sweet."

"Kurst, for god's sake what the fuck do you want?" Ian sighed, narrowing his eyes.

"Is that any way to speak in front of your nephew Ian?" Kurst shook his head. But before Ian could reply, he continued "Anyway, I have a little experiment I wanted to try out on you, and since there's two of you now this'll be much, much easier."

Alex tensed.

"I see, and how exactly do you plan on doing that?" Ian raised a brow.

"Like this" Kurst growled before a half a dozen of his agents stepped into the room behind him.

Ian took a deep, somewhat calming breath of air and slowly stood up. Alex decided his uncle knew best and followed.

"Good, getting used to the routine already, Alex" Kurst grinned. He stepped forward and placed his palm on a print activated panel. A U.V ray analyzed his palm before the click of the cell door sounded, not only opening the doors, but deactivating the electricity from the bars as well. And at the exact same second, all six of Kurst's agents barged into the cell, splitting up, three going for Ian and three going for Alex.

The younger immediately jumped forward and began fighting off his attackers, succeeding at first. But when his eyes suddenly caught sight of one of the agents sliding a small jack knife out from his sleeve, then impaling it directly into the bullet wound in Ian's shoulder-his focus slipped. Alex's mind went into full out concern for his uncle-forgetting there were men standing in front of him that wanted to do the same to him.

And in the split second that his focus slipped, one man backhanded him across the face, one man kneed him in the stomach, and the final clipped him on the forehead with the barrel of his gun, knocking him out cold.

* * *

When Alex awoke, his mind immediately scanned his surroundings, notifying him where he was and what was going on.

_Dimly lit_

_Overhead light with a dull amber glow, darkness everywhere else_

_Wrists chafed-_

_Tied-wrists tied behind back_

_Chair-wooden chair-splintering back of left palm_

_Legs…can't feel legs-Drugged/Anesthetized_

_Feet tied to legs of chair_

_Head pounding immensely-Wound on right side of forehead, bleeding down side of face_

_Ian-Nowhere to be seen_

Alex took a deep breath and tried to calm his reeling mind. Kurst had said that he and Ian would be tested on together, so the older man couldn't be far.

"Are we nice and comfortable now?" Kurst's alarming voice rang out. Alex watched as he stepped into the small range which the light above him reached.

"Just fucking peachy" Alex growled, keeping his eyes steeled ahead.

"That's nice" Kurst continued pleasantly "Since you are indeed comfortable, let us begin." And with that, Kurst took a few steps ahead of Alex and gently clapped his hands. Upon recognition of the sound, another dull amber light flickered to life some 15 feet behind of him.

Alex found it quite fortunate that despite being drugged, he could still move his head. He turned his head to look behind but his heart skipped a beat as his eyes registered the form seated underneath the light; a bound, gagged and unconscious Ian Rider. Alex could only see him to a certain degree; Ian's back was facing him. His head was lolled onto his bare chest, arms and legs tied, gagged and it looked as though his shoulder had acquired a new layer of gauze.

"You see Alex, SCORPIA's methods have usually always consisted of physical torture, electrocutions, breaking bones, burning flesh, etc." Kurst explained as he began walking a circle around Alex. "But just the other day I was in California and I was personally faced with two men from the CIA who were brothers. And I saw that once one was injured, unable to do anything to help the other, it caused him unbearable pain to see me shoot his brother. It almost drove him to the brink of madness when his brother was dying and all he could do was lay there…and scream."

Alex sneered, sickened by the cheerful tone his captor was using.

"It was a shame really, they were what, 19, 20" Kurst tched briefly "And considering both the CIA and MI6 prefer to take younger agents into their ranks…this gives me an advantage. The young are weak minded really, take you for example; I lay a hand on your dear beloved uncle and you would go mad within minutes. Am I wrong?"

Alex let out a low growl deep in his throat.

"I'm sorry, Alex, was that a challenge?" Kurst put a hand to his ear.

"Leave Ian alone" Alex growled.

"Depends, will you go mad and prove my point, to ensure this method will work every time I face a pair of enemies?" Kurst raised a brow "See, it is exactly this kind of behavior that I failed to extract from your uncle over the course of eight years, but you, you are just a boy. I'm sure this partially unnecessary experiment will teach you to behave during your time here."

Alex simply glared at his captor.

"Alright then, on to the experiment" Kurst smiled as he began walking away from Alex and to his uncle.

"Hey! Hey, get the hell away from Ian!" Alex screamed after him.

"Oh, shush now will you, you'll wake him" Kurst replied "I want to wake him in a special way…myself."

Alex watched closely as Kurst pulled a small vile out from inside his coat and carefully undid the cork. And then slowly and carefully, tipped the vile over the slightest bit, spilling a drop onto Ian's cheek. Alex felt his heart increase in rate about ten times as his uncle jerked awake, struggling against his binds and the new stinging at his cheek.

"Good to have you awake, Ian" Kurst grinned at him "Let's take this off for you, shall we?" he said as he pulled the cloth from Ian's mouth. "Nice to see the little souveniers from last time" he gestured towards the deep scars and bruises littered across Ian's tightly packed stomach and chest.

"What the…what was that?" Ian growled, still attempting to free his wrist and feet.

"Acid" Kurst shrugged "Stole a crate from CIA in Cali."

Ian raised a brow "And now it's eating away at my flesh isn't it?"

"No, actually it's a special type of acid. You see this acid simply burns through a few layers of skin, hits the flesh at best, but really it doesn't cause much physical damage" Kurst explained "However it does prick at the skin cells, causing pain beyond the skin's recognition. This is why this acid is so useful! No matter how tormented my enemies are, the acid will always adapt to their skin."

Ian's expression remained perfectly hardened.

"Now, try keeping your conscience straight with this one, the fact that your body feels pain, but your mind knows nothing is wrong" Kurst grinned "How long are you going to go without your mind tripping all over itself?" he said leaning inches from Ian's face "And you see the little one over there" he pointed out to Alex "He'll be watching the whole thing and we'll see who can go mad faster, you or him." Kurst drew back to his full height.

"Now let's begin-"

"No!" came a shout from Alex "Get the fuck away from him! Get the-"

"Alex! Shut up!" Ian screamed hoarsely at his nephew "I'll be fine. I'll be alright, I've been through eight years of this-as bad as it looks, just remember I'm perfectly-" but Ian was cut off as the back of Kurst's hand came crashing down on his cheek. His face snapped to a side upon impact. "You'll be perfectly dead, that's what you'll be" Kurst growled loud enough for Alex to hear.

"Anyways, onward with our experiment" Kurst regained his pleasant demeanor as once more he lifted the vile and began to tip it towards Ian's face.

Ian neither struggled, nor attempted to turn his face away. He simply closed his eyes and waited for the liquid to drop onto his face. He would not show any emotion, for Alex's sake he wouldn't.

"You see, Ian, this is why I just couldn't afford to lose you" Kurst sighed "You just sit here and take it. You never give me any trouble" he chuckled as he tipped the vile over, this time the liquid scathed past Ian's jaw and onto his neck.

The burning sensation of the acid began immediately. And as much as Ian tried to tell himself there was no physical harm being done, it still screamed at him that if his flesh felt like it was being eaten by microscopic beings, then something was wrong. Causing his body to rebel, causing him twice as much pain trying to suppress the sudden scream of madness that attempted to overtake him. He bit his lip till the bitter copper taste of blood found its way onto his tongue.

Kurst grabbed a handful of Ian's dirty blond hair and thrust his head back, then slowly allowed a drop just bellow the cleft in his chin. The acid trickling down the MI6 agent's throat, burning, eating, choking. And there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He couldn't even bring try to ease the pain, for Kurst was holding his head back in place. Just as the stinging began to subside, he attempted to take a deep breath, but failed miserably as nothing came to his lungs but the blood from his lip that had pooled up in his mouth. He choked and sputtered up the blood, gasping for air instead of liquid.

Kurst watched as his prisoner coughed droplets of blood onto his face-with a grin. "Having fun, Ian?"

Ian glared at him, sickening hatred in his eyes, and with a quick, hasty movement, he spat blood up at Kurst's face. "If you think you can even begin to get to Alex through me, you're wrong. You may have taken me from him at a young age but I taught Alex enough in those years. He's much, much stronger than any other man his age and for all account's worth, he's _my_ flesh and blood. He is _my_ nephew. And if anyone _he'll_ get through this, Kurst. You won't win this time."

But that was as far as Ian got before Kurst cuffed him across the face once more.

On the other side of the room, Alex was in very much conflict. His mind screamed out in concern for the man that was practically a father to him, and yet that man himself had just subliminally spoken to and reassured him by pretending to speak to their captor. He wanted to scream Ian's name and scream at Kurst, simply for the mental satisfaction for having done so. But Ian was doing so much to make sure he didn't do that. But for god's sake Alex felt like he'd die if he felt any more helpless, watching Ian in pain. He just needed to release it somehow and he knew that was exactly what Kurst wanted him to do…or was it? Alex shook his head as the confusion began to set in. Alright, _this_ was what Kurst wanted. For him to become conflicted on the inside…for him to go crazy inside. No, he would not give into it. He would not fail Ian this time.

Alex watched a Kurst flinched the slightest bit, anger gripping his features for a split second. And with a sudden movement, he emptied all the contents of the vile onto Ian's bare, scarred chest, tossed the glass vile itself at Ian's chest (the fragile item shattered on impact, impaling dozens of tiny shards into his already burning flesh) and storming out of the premises.

"Ah!" Ian let out a suppressed growl "Fuck!" He took several deep breaths, attempting to calm himself. "Alex?" he called as calmly as he could muster up.

"I'm here, Ian" Alex wasted no time to reply.

"Alex-" Ian gasped for breath as the sheer pain in his torso began to send him over the edge. His vision began to blur and the pain overcoming his entire being. "Alex, talk to me..." he said, remembering what John used to do with him years ago on their own missions.

_Look at my face, not my hands. Don't pay attention to what I'm doing, talk to me, and keep your mind off of the wound. It'll help, believe me._

He used to say. And it was the honest to death truth. It did help. But before any other thought of his brother could seep into his mind, Ian threw the thought of the man aside; he didn't have time for an emotional break down.

"Talk to you-talk, what?" Alex replied hurriedly, not sure what to do, hearing the pain in his uncle's voice was enough to send him into a state of panic.

"Anything-just-just talk to me, this pain" Ian took a quick breath "It's all in my head, which was Kurst's point. If I can just keep my mind off of it-" he broke off with a grunt of pain. "Alex, please-" he panted "Tell me about my future daughter-in-law" he thought quickly "Tell me about Sabine."

"She-she's beautiful, she has the lightest brown hair, the darkest brown eyes. She-" Alex tried hard to focus on the image of his girlfriend "She's an amazing person at heart-you would have loved her, she kind of reminds me of my mum at times. I really, really love her. I love her so much…"

"A-and does she return these feelings?" Alex could tell Ian was trying equally as hard to focus.

"Yes, two years ago Jared Erion, he was a good friend of hers that I knew had been running a campaign to sabotage our relationship, asked her to marry him. She promptly slapped him, tossed his ring into a nearby lake, pushed him into said lake and called me to pick her up. God I love her" Alex spoke quickly.

Ian, found it horribly difficult to speak, so he merely settled with a grunt.

"When we get home I think I want you to meet her. You really would like her, and she hears about you every other second so I'm sure she'd love to meet you as well. I sort of do need your approval of my girlfriend, don't I? I mean after all you're the closest thing I've got to a father, Ian. I kind of need you, you know? That's why I can't lose you here, because-" Alex bit back a wave of emotions that threatened to overwhelm him "Because I think I'd die if I lost you again. You're my only family; you're kind of my only friend too, well there's Tom but he's married now and he's got a family of his own to worry about, I mean who has time for crazy old MI6 Alex Rider anymore? No one, that's who, absolutely freaking no one. But you, you really do love me don't you Ian? I can tell by the way you talk to me-I didn't get it back when I was a kid because I never really looked for it but your tone does change when you talk to me. You actually care. A-and that's all that matters. I really, truly need you Ian. I need you so bad, I can't possibly bear to lose you again…"

"Alex…" came Ian's soft voice followed by the sound of labored breathing. And then a few harsh coughs…and silence.

"Ian?" Alex called cautiously "Ian!" he called a bit louder. His heart began to steadily race as his ears met nothing but deadening silence. The worst possible scenarios flooded into his mind. Panic, sheer, bloody panic filled him up and one last time, he screamed out into the darkness, only to receive no reply but the silence.

"IAN!"

If only he knew that was the last thing Ian heard before he lost conscience.

**Oh the bitter irony. **

**Ah well, hope you guys liked that one. I just uploaded a short story that's a companion piece to this called, Infragilis Vinculum. It's basically and extended version of the memory Ian told Alex about in chapter 5. I just really really love writing about the bond between Ian and John so I thought this would make a good story. **

**So I'd really appreciate it if you guys took a minute to go check that out and tell me what you think =]**

**Reviews are loved!**


	9. The Mission Begins

**Hello all, here's the next one for ya. Sorry it took a bit XD But here it is, a bit of Ash bashing, cause I really don't like him, but there's more of that in the next chapter than this. Anywho I'm going to shut up now and let you read =D **

**Enjoy!!**

Alex woke up feeling relatively alright compared to how he had woken up the past few times. He wasn't tied to anything, he didn't feel like he'd been drugged into oblivion, nor was he physically injured-set aside tat bandaged bullet wound on his back from the kidnapping itself. But upon sitting up he found that the same could not be said about his uncle, who was laying on his back a few feet from him, unconscious in the same condition Alex had last seen him. His chest was still drenched with that liquid Kurst had used to torture him with. Alex shoved those horrid thoughts out of his mind and crawled over to Ian.

His chest seemed to be moving up and down, though very slowly and after unnervingly long periods; at least he was breathing. _Of course he's breathing _Alex told himself _Kurst doesn't need us if we're dead._

Alex looked a bit closer and found shards of glass from the broken vile still littered across Ian's skin.

"Shit…" he cursed lightly as he reached over to touch the skin. But flinched a bit as his hand came in contact. _Cold-why is he so cold?_

"Ian?" he suddenly decided getting the older man awake was a better idea than trying to get the glass out of his chest. "Ian, wake up…"

No response.

"Ian, wake up, I'm going to have a serious nervous breakdown right now, if you don't just wake the fuck up…" he whispered as he fell out of his crouch and into a sitting position, struggling to keep his voice straight. He was so sick and tired of this, it'd only been a couple of hours or maybe a day or two and sure as hell Alex had been kidnapped before, for weeks on end too. But how Kurst was able to keep him in for so little time and make him want to break down and cry was beyond him. And even though he knew Kurst wouldn't kill Ian, something in the back of his mind ate at him, screaming at him to do anything possible to keep from losing his uncle again. He put a hand over his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to suppress any leaking emotions.

"Alex…?"

Slightly startled, Alex looked down and found his uncle's foggy grey eyes staring at him through slits.

"Oh shit, Ian" Alex let out a breath "I just-I just almost had a freaking nervous break down there-"

"I know…I heard" Ian said slowly, trying to sit up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Alex advised "You've got glass all over your chest. I'll try to get it out if you want…"

"Why didn't you just do that while I was knocked out?" Ian sighed.

"I don't…I don't know I guess I just really needed to know you were alright…" Alex mustered up, looking down. He realized how selfish that sounded; knowing how much pain it would cause Ian now.

"It's alright" Alex felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Ian smiling at him "Do whatever you have to, go on."

"Sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, I'm sure some of them could just be brushed off" Alex started, examining his upper body "Some of them are deep though and-"

"And since you have nothing but your fingers right now it's gonna hurt like hell" Ian finished for him, smirking "You haven't the slightest idea how badly I just had déjà vu right there. The number of times your father has said that to me is utterly unspeakable."

Alex smiled a bit. He then brushed a hand as lightly as he could across Ian packed chest, and just like he said a few shards came right off. Some attaching themselves to Alex's palm and other skittering across the floor.

Alex was surprised to see how few actually remained. Only two or three that was literally impaled into the flesh. He quickly unbuttoned his shirt, took the edge of it and gloved two of his fingers with the cloth. The proceeded to attempt to pry the glass out. He felt Ian's muscles contract when he slid the pieces out. And finally when he was done, Ian's chest was bloodied and the skin practically torn.

And all Alex could hear was the painful sound of Ian's heavy breathing.

"Ian?"

"Yeah?"

"Alright?"

"Close enough."

So with that Alex helped him sit up, leaning against the nearest wall. "Here, take this" he said taking off his button down shirt and handing it to his uncle.

"And you?" Ian said taking the shirt into his hands.

"It's alright, I'll live with this" Alex said tugging at the collar of the skin tight black shirt that had been underneath the other.

"You sure?"

"Ian, I'm not the one that's bleeding without a shirt" Alex narrowed his eyes.

"Eh, good enough" Ian said as he pulled the shirt carefully on. "God" he breathed once he was done, not bothering to button past the third one "Once we get out of this, I'm out. I'm going to get out there, become a real banker, and live a nice normal life and start a good happy family-"

"With Jack?" Alex cut him off in a hopeful tone.

Ian didn't respond.

"My, my, well done Alex!" the sickening familiar voice of Zeljan Kurst.

Both Ian and Alex turned to the sound of the voice and found Kurst stepping out from the deepest corner of the room, towards them.

"You are so sweet to your good for nothing uncle, Alex" Kurst said as he came to stand in front of the cell.

"There's only one person that isn't good for anything in here" Alex rolled his eyes.

Kurst ignored the comment; turning to Ian "You really loved your brother didn't you?" he fished something out of his coat and held it out for the two Riders to see. A picture of John Rider grinning with an arm around the shoulders of and equally as happy Ian Rider.

A million and one scenes flashed through Ian's head of the occasion in which the picture was taken but he forced them out of his mind. "Been going through my wallet, have you now?" he replied with a slight edge to his voice.

"You look just like him Ian, look; you can barely tell the difference" Kurst pointed at the picture "He really looked out for you didn't he? Saved your life about a hundred times. You owe him big time don't you?"

"I owe John nothing" Ian spat, looking away from Kurst and the photo.

"Not even for taking his life?" Kurst grinned.

"I did no such thing" Ian's voice was scarily cold. Even Alex hadn't heard it that emotionless and icy…ever.

"Yes you did Ian" Kurst continued "Six days after Alex's third birthday you and your friend Tobey Evans were supposed to be on a private jet set up by John and Tobey's father Thomas Evans" Kurst spoke quickly "You'd been planning to attend U2's concert in France for almost a half a year with Tobey and you were excited to go. My men found this information out through Ash, who was quick to tell me"-here Alex's fist clenched till his knuckles were white-"And I figured, what better way to get to the infamous John Rider than to kill his baby brother? So I set up my men to get a bomb on that plane. However two days before you were set to leave you came back from a mission with a bullet through your lung and Tobey, with several broken ribs, making you both unable to go. But instead of wasting the flight, you insisted John and Helen go instead to and take a vacation, head down to France to get some down time. Alex then came down with an ear infection, John and Helen boarded that plane, and my men still knew you and your friend were on it…" he finished slowly. Ian made no visible reaction to the retelling of his worst memories, he simply sat there, staring at the nearest wall, unmoving, unbreathing. "You see Alex, Ian Rider killed your parents and he doesn't deny it…"

"Nice job on shortening down the story and telling only the parts you wanted to tell me to make Ian look like the bad guy" Alex smirked at his captor.

"No" Ian corrected hoarsely "He's telling the truth. That is exactly how it went…"

"Yeah, but still" Alex tried.

"No buts Alex, he killed them. He murdered your parents. He is the reason you're an orphan, the reason you're in MI6. Ian Rider is the reason your life is in pieces, Alex" Kurst taunted mercilessly.

"Forget Alex" Ian gave a dry emotionless laugh "I'm the reason my own life is in pieces."

"Hey..." Alex trailed off "That's not true, Ian…"

"I'll give you two lovelies a while to think" Kurst said as he turned to leave, the sickening grin still on his face. "My sources tell me I have a little bit of MI6 scum to deal with…"

An awkward silence came over the two Riders once Kurst was gone. Alex wanted nothing more than to ask his uncle what the hell just happened-but at the same time he could see the pain in Ian's blank features. His cold, hard expression was all Alex needed to see to know the older man was falling apart inside. So he stopped himself.

But after a while Ian himself asked "If there's anything you want to know, speak now or forever hold your peace because god knows I will never speak of the incidents I spent my entire life in therapy for ever again."

Alex hesitated but finally brought himself to speak "I…alright. Let's start from the basics…Kurst said that you and Tobey were supposed to be on a flight to…was that the same-"

"Yes, that was the same Tobey" Ian said softly.

"You never told me what happened to him…" Alex muttered "He stopped visiting after I was 12…"

"I think you can figure that out yourself."

"I think I'd like to hear it a little more" Alex hated to pry but he really wanted to know what exactly happened. His uncle's best friend used to be a usual visitor to the Rider house till Alex was 12, not to mention he enjoyed the other's company very much. He always did wonder what happened, and whenever he would ask Ian, the older would avoid the topic.

"I was on his last mission with him" Ian started with a deep breath "It was my fault…I should have been more alert-Tobey was already wounded when that last sniper, that one guy that we missed snuck up on us. Tobey saw-sensed, I don't know, something happened at the last second and he threw me to the ground. That bullet, that would have shot me through the heart…shot him" Ian's voice shook the slightest bit "I should have been the one to throw him to the ground-that sniper was an old enemy of John's; he wanted me, not Tobey. Tobey-he already had a bullet through his stomach, the only reason he was walking was because he was leaning on me. And through all that somehow he was able to push me out of the way, when I, the one with a few cuts and cruises let him die. Shows you how disgusting of an agent I am doesn't it?"

Alex opened his mouth to speak but Ian cut him off.

"I should have done something!" Ian screamed as if the air in front of him was to react "I let my brother and my best friend slip right past me when I could have done something! I threw them into the hands of death! I killed them!"

"Ian!" Alex snapped taking a hold of his uncle's shoulders "Did you pull that trigger and fire at Tobey?"

"I just as good as-"

"Did you or did you not? I need a yes or no answer."

"No but-"

"Did you put that bomb on Mum and Dad's plane?"

"No"

"Then shut the fuck up" Alex growled. It vaguely occurred to him that despite the situation he was still speaking to Ian Rider, his uncle who he was supposed to treat with respect. But it was only a vague thought that never really made it to the mainstream of his mind. "You are about as responsible for their deaths as the floor is for being grey."

"You know what the worst part is?" Ian looked up into Alex's painfully familiar eyes. "That I'm going to be responsible for your death as well."

Alex was too stunned to respond for a minute. He couldn't believe that had really come out of Ian's mouth. Suddenly with those few words all the pain, the misery and horrors of Ian's past leaked out. In those simple eleven words.

"No" Alex shook his head "No, you aren't going to be because we're going to make it out of this. Alive."

Ian gave a dry chuckle. "I'm sure we will."

"Hell yeah we will" Alex growled "And besides, Knowing Jacen, he's probably already got squads out looking for us."

"I'm sure he is."

* * *

Jacen Kraell took a deep breath as he stepped out of his VIP MI6 Chopper onto the roof of Paris's thirty story Secret Service Department. The blades of the vehicle still whirred above him, sending his dirty blonde hair in a frenzy. His normally light grey eyes were dark and stormy as he began to walk across the helipad.

Several other agents came to his side to tend to whatever work he had for them.

"I need a read-out of this place, _A Amor_" Jacen spoke quickly, whipping out a picture of a fancy looking diner from his jacket and handing it to an agent to his right "A man named Jean Sanclair was spotted in this restaurant-our recourses have tracked him to be an agent for SCORPIA. I need you to try to gather any information about Sanclair, the guys anything, got it?"

"Yes, sir" the agent nodded before departing from Jacen's side. He then turned to the man to his right "I need you to find an address for me, can you do that?"

"Yes, sir" the agent nodded.

"Good. Find Sanclair's residence. Then find me a ride" Jacen ordered "I need to talk to this one myself."

"Yes, sir" the agent said before he too departed.

"Squadron 11" Jacen called. An assembly of about 40 men trooped out from surrounding choppers and followed Jacen as he strode across the roof.

"I will need to do some work on my own for the next few hours" Jacen yelled over the sound of the choppers. "In that time you are to stay at this department and wait for my call. When I call I will give you the location I need you men at, is that understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir" was his solid reply.

"Good, you are to enter with me. I have an urgent phone call I need to make and then we will go down together" Jacen informed them.

"Sir, yes, sir" the men shouted in unison. They lined up in perfect rows, waiting for their head to finish whatever business it was that he had to attend to.

It was only then did Jacen pull out his cell phone, press 2 and then the call button. He watched the wallpaper, a picture of him and his brother, turn into a small tab that read Calling Big Bro….

He pressed the phone to his ear and listened to the endless ringing until finally a more than familiar voice spoke.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Chris"

"Hey! Have you gotten to Paris yet?"

"Yeah, just got here. Listen, is Jack holding up?"

"Yeah she's doing alright. Worried as hell though."

"You'd be to if two people you loved with your life got kidnapped like that."

"I know…Hey Jace?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you busy-I mean do you have time?"

"I'm on a bit of a tight scheduling here" Jacen glanced at the watch at his wrist "But if you need to talk I'm all ears, Chris." He said sincerely.

"Great…I guess I just wanted to talk about Jack…"

"What about Jack?"

"Her and Ian"

"Oh…"

"I always knew she loved Ian-I mean she told me herself but this was when we both thought he was dead, you know? And I guess I just didn't realize how much she meant it until I saw the two of them together. And god, Jace, if you saw the look in his eyes too, every time he looked at her, it was like he wasn't the world renowned killing machine Ian Rider anymore, suddenly he was just Ian. That nice sensible guy that would give his life for you. You know what I mean?"

"I know exactly what you mean"

"And god, they are so perfect. I feel like I'm sinning right now this very instant being with Jack."

"And you plan on doing what about this?"

"I'm…not sure. I guess I'm just waiting till Ian gets back safe and sound to see how things work out."

"I think that's a good idea."

"You're gonna talk it out with him?"

"Him, her, I'm not sure."

"Hm, I see" Jacen turned as the agent he had sent out to get him Sanclair's address had returned "Well, Chris I gotta run, alright?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for the talk bro"

"Not a problem. Good luck"

"You too"

With that Jacen hung up and turned to the agent

"Talk to me."

**Ok that was that, hope it was alright. I decided to show how Jacen works out the case, and hopefully you guys'll like that too. Cause I like Jacen and it's fun writing him =]**

**Review!!!**


	10. Lost

**Alright guys, here's the next one, I decided to stick with splitting the chapters into two halves, one half with how Jacen is doing in his attempt to find Ian and Alex and the other half with how Alex and Ian themselves are doing. Which part will be first will depend on the chapter. **

**This is a long one actually and I think Jacen's part is longer here. But we all love Jacen enough to appreciate that...right? lol Enjoy!**

"Alright men, let's move" Jacen said as his agent finished telling him the address of Jean Sanclair. He walked over to the staircases that lead to the lower floors, his men at his heels. "I will need to pursue Sanclair on my own, during the time I deal with him; again, you will remain here until I give you the location where I next need you. Understood?" he called back to them.

"Yes, sir!"

"Good" Jacen said as he hit the bottom step of the thirtieth floor. But as he stepped into the building, something felt off. He stopped, holding up a palm signaling his men to stop behind him as well.

He looked around carefully. It was quiet and there wasn't a single person anywhere to be seen. Something was definitely wrong.

He used the palm that was already up to form a few hand signs translating to "Arm yourselves." He immediately heard the soft clicking of 40 some TMP guns being loaded and pulled out his own gun.

He began to step forward, slowly moving down the hallway towards the room he and his men were supposed to meet the chief officer at. He glanced up at the labels on the doors he passed:

_3022_

_3023_

_3024_

_3025 and…_

3026. Their room. Jacen pushed the door slowly with his foot and was surprised to find it swing open. And ten times as surprised when he looked inside.

The place had been turned upside down, inside out and completely trashed. Papers fluttered around in the breeze that was floating in from the wide open windows. And-oh god…

Jacen stepped in the office in disbelief and was almost sick when his eyes fell upon several bodies on the ground. He recognized one of them to be the Administrative Chief. Each body appeared the same; stab wounds in several places accompanied by a few bullets. They were bloodied and showed obvious signs of torture. But how on earth had this happened so silently and swiftly-without anyone noticing?

As Jacen stepped further into the office, he heard his men file in after him. He looked around, disgusted, when suddenly, something fell upon his shoulder. He immediately turned to look at his right shoulder, and found a small drop of red rolling down the shoulder of his vest. With furrowed brows he looked up, and much to his horror found words written on the ceiling on the same red substance. Jacen could only guess what it was as he read the words:

_Voux Avez Dix Secondes. Le Sanclair A Dix Proces-Verbal. Bonne Chance. _

Jacen's mind reeled as the words translated and processed in his mind: You have 10 seconds. Sanclair has 10 minutes. Good Luck.

This was not good. This was definitely not good. 10 seconds, 10 seconds, 10 seconds till what? They were ambushed? Shot? Killed? And then it hit him. Till the building-or at least this floor blew. Yes that made sense, a timed bomb.

"Shit!" Jacen cursed out loud. He spun around to face his men "Everyone have their emergency parachutes?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good, follow my lead" Jacen said quickly before he began running towards the opposing wall and without warning did a swan dive through the open window.

Jacen only prayed his men wouldn't question his judgment, and was relieved when a second later, he saw 40 some men file out the window after him. It was only then did he reach inside his vest and pull the trigger to the emergency parachute at his side.

The parachute instantly deployed and drifted him up a few feet. He glanced upward and saw his men doing the same. Perfect. He looked back down and was pleased to see only about 20 or so feet remaining. His speed had slowed from his momentum gaining dive to a gentle drift. He looked up once more to check up on his men, but before he could catch sight of any of them, a thundering noise sounded above him and he saw a brilliant inferno burst out from the office he had just leapt from. So it was a bomb. The explosion sent a flurry of concrete, rubble and other debris shoot into the sky and towards the ground.

And suddenly a chunk of burning steel shot towards Jacen. He caught sight of it just before it punctured through his parachute, missing his body by mere inches. His parachute, now on fire from the impact, immediately deflated and once again sent him hurdling towards the ground.

Jacen managed to unclip the chute from his upper body before he was harshly thrown against the black concrete below. He felt himself land painfully on his right arm(oh yeah, that was definitely broken now) as well as hit his head once or twice. The momentum of his fall caused him to roll over about 10 more feet till he came to a stop on his back, right in the middle of the busy street. He vaguely heard the sound of cars screeching to a halt to prevent themselves from running him over.

He dipped in and out of conscience and his head was pounding. He faintly remembered hitting his head-_Jesus_ his skull must have been about two feet thick for that not to have turned his brain into mush.

"Sir, are you alright?" he heard a distant voice call to him. He recognized it to be one of his men through his foggy vision. He really needed to focus-get himself back into it-he only had…10 minutes was it? Yes, 10 minutes, he needed to get out of this hazy state he was in.

"Do you need a doctor, sir?" the voice spoke again.

"No, no" Jacen rasped "Taze me" he ordered.

"What?" the agent asked as though he had misheard.

"I said-taze me. Do it now or I'm really gonna mess you up…once I can think straight again" Jacen half slurred. He saw the agent give him an unsure look before whipping out a small object and examining it in his palm.

"Are you sure, sir?"

"Yes!" Jacen growled. Next thing he knew there was white hot pain shooting up his spine. He vaguely felt his body arch upwards in the sheer force of the electricity passing through him. _Yes, focus. Focus on the pain, Jace, come on. Focus. _

Finally, when the pain became a dull throbbing, Jacen dared to open his eyes and found his vision perfectly clear. Ah, the power of focus. He'd definitely have to thank Ian for that one once he found him. It was something he'd been waiting to try out for almost nine years since his training with the older.

He sat up and looked over to the agent that had tazed him. "Thank you" he muttered hoarsely. The man looked a bit shaken-Jacen didn't blame him; he remembered how shaken he himself felt when Ian had ordered him to do the same on that one mission. Ah, memories.

Jacen stood up, feeling dizzy for a moment, but quickly regaining his posture. Another agent rushed to his side "Sir, we have Sanclair's position."

"Good and my ride?" Jacen asked, checking his watch. 9, they had 9 minutes now.

"Our forces had rides ready for you already-you and your men."

Less than 30 seconds later, Jacen found him tearing through the streets of Paris, Sanclair's address downloaded into the GPS of his modified bright red _Ducati_. And 40 other men behind him in two large police vans.

Jacen's heart was pounding in his chest, and his entire body felt as though it was going to fall apart. Not to mention his right arm was undoubtedly broken and he was driving. Still he was at his best and didn't let himself slow for a single second. They needed to find Sanclair alive. They needed to get him to talk and they needed to find out where the new SCORPIA base was. They _needed_ to find Alex and Ian. Alive.

Because not only was Alex like a brother to him, he was also doing this for Ian. Jacen Kraell might have only known the legendary Ian Rider for only about a year of his life but he was that one lucky little rookie that chanced to get trained under the epic of Ian. And he appreciated it. In the span of a single year Ian had become a very large key in Jacen's life. So large that even eight years couldn't make him forget it. The least he could do was repay the favor.

Jacen stopped his line of thoughts and forced himself to focus on the road and here and now. All he needed to think about now was Sanclair and alive.

An indefinite amount of time later Jacen and men pulled up in front of the home of Jean Sanclair. It was a small suburban house, away from the chaos of the city and its tall buildings. But that made little difference to Jacen, who literally threw his bike onto the curb-side before rushing to the front of the house. With his men close behind him, Jacen drew his gun and kicked the door in. They then trooped into the house, weapons at the ready, should SCORPIA be there. But upon stepping in, they found the house to be completely quiet. A bunch of the men split into the kitchen, others to the living room and a few followed Jacen upstairs. There was no mess or signs of struggle, but at the same time a terrifying silence drifted in the air, sending Jacen into complete confusion. He lost a few more men at a bedroom they crossed and finally, with the two remaining men at his side, came to one last room. The door was closed and Jacen was almost afraid to open it. But after a while he built up the courage to turn the bronze knob of the door.

And upon stepping in, the first thing he saw was the body of Jean Sanclair, bloody and broken across the floor.

For a moment Jacen simply stood there, staring at how horrifyingly the body had been torn apart. Finally his mind came back to reality and he realized that he had just lost the biggest lead he had as to Ian and Alex's location.

"Shit!" he growled, kicking the closest wall. He looked around the room and found it to be an office. A small study place. And if there was one thing Jacen knew, then it was that all study areas had secret compartment. Especially if you had anything to do with secret services.

"Start checking around the room for any hidden areas" he ordered his men "We're not leaving this place till we find another lead."

And with that Jacen stepped further into the room, ready to investigate himself, when suddenly, something at the corner of the room caught his eye…

* * *

"Hello again!" Kurst called as he re-entered the Riders' holding cage "Geez, you MI6 freaks are hard to hold down. I just barely beat your boy Jacen to that house-" he cut himself off and with a grin, put a hand over his lips "Whoops."

"Jacen's here?!" Alex immediately shot up.

"We need not worry about him anymore-he's dead" Kurst shrugged.

Alex's expression suddenly fell. His shoulders slacked and he stepped back. "J-Jacen's dead? You killed…Jacen?"

"Well it wasn't very hard, I just-"

"He's lying" Ian spoke calmly from his place on the ground.

"He's…" Alex trailed off as he turned to look at his uncle.

"He's lying" Ian stated simply "He did that to me about a million times back when he had just me captive. Brief Exposure of Mental Fears."

Alex stared at him, still a bit unsure.

"Over the course of my eight years here, he'd told me many times that he'd killed you and that you were really dead this time" Ian explained "Of course the first few times I reacted the same way you did, Alex. However as more time passed I realized it was just a way to mess with my head." Ian looked up at Kurst and stood up next to Alex "And besides, I know Jacen. I may not have seen him in eight years but I know him and he's a fighter."

"Very nice, Ian" Kurst drawled "I'm glad you remember the lessons I taught you."

Alex now looked angry at the deception.

"Anyway" Kurst continued "I thought I'd do something a bit gentler such as talking with you boys today. Seeing how bad you had it yesterday-especially you Ian."  
Ian briefly bared his teeth at Kurst.

"I was going through a few files and doing some reading…and Alex, you seem to have an appointment with your psychiatrist this evening" Kurst said "Shame, cause I hate to leave Dr. Raith waiting. Of course she'll understand that you're away on a mission won't she?"

"Dr…Raith?" Ian muttered turning to Alex "As in Anna…Raith?"

*****"Yeah" Alex nodded "She's my psychiatrist too. Took pity on me after you died. We should definitely let her know you're not dead when we get back because she took it pretty hard. First Tobey, then you, it was a real blow for her…"

Ian looked down.

"And I also found something else while I was reading Alex-it was a little disturbing actually, seeing you're only 22-a baby" Kurst said "Your file is flooded with psychological disorders…just wondering about that…"

"Well that tends to happen when your uncle dies on you at 14 and then you get thrown into a world of killing and thievery" Alex smirked.

"You think his is long, take a trip down to my novel length file-thought I'm sure you've already seen that Zeljan" Ian rolled his eyes.

"At least you didn't get screwed over at 14, Ian" Alex rolled his eyes with greater emphasis.

"Alright then, you two play nice and hopefully I'll be able to catch up with you boys in a few minutes for our new experiment!" Kurst said excitedly before walking off.

"I started at 16" Ian spoke as the door closed behind Kurst "Carried off to 22 when your father died. You think you had it rough."

"Well I wasn't exactly thrilled about you dying on me either, Ian" Alex narrowed his eyes. A sudden force of rage began to rush inside of him. He wasn't sure where it was coming from or why but all of a sudden he wanted nothing more than to pummel his uncle. Instead though he released the feeling through angry words. "Do you know how hard it was, standing there at your funeral, thinking you were dead?!"

Ian remained silent.

"For eight years of my life I thought you were dead. I woke up every single morning for eight years, knowing you were dead! I was alone and you were dead! Or so I fucking thought!"

"MI6 sent people to get your things after you were dead. Did you know that? I ran them halfway through London because god knows it pissed me off that anyone would try to take away the last few things I had of you. I followed them into a junkyard and found your car. There were gunshots in that thing and they told me you died in a car crash! Blunt got through with me then! He told me everything you ever did with me, all the vacations all the times you said you were just spending time with me-Blunt told me it was training. As if you had to do it-not that you wanted to. Do you have any idea how utterly traumatizing and scarring that was for me-for me to have heard all that after you were killed?! I thought you'd been manipulating me all those years-my entire world fell apart around me at that very moment because I felt like you-the only person in my life that really meant anything to me other than Jack-Had been using me!"

"I hadn't been" Ian stated simply "You're my nephew, Alex. My blood, I could never do that." Alex was almost disappointed at the short, soft, emotional response to his rage filled, well thought out rant.

"Yeah, cause I knew that" he smirked. "Do you have the faintest idea what it was like staring at Yassen Gregorovich after he'd saved my life? Glaring at him because I wanted nothing more than to murder him for taking you away from me!" Alex paused to take a breath "D'you know what I said to him?! I looked him in the eyes with so much hate and I said 'I will never forget you.' And he just laughed at me and left!"

"Well do you know, what it was like, not staring Yassen in the eyes but down the barrels of his guns thinking, oh shit, waitta go Ian, you've really done it now. Now that kid John used to train us gonna shoot you, you're gonna die, Alex is gonna be alone, MI6 is gonna find him and Jack is gonna get fucking deported! Waitta fucking go Rider, you've really made John proud now.'"

Alex simply stared at his uncle's outburst; he hadn't exactly expected Ian to go on with an argument of his own, far from yelling and cursing like that.

"Alex, you're not the only one that has suffered from all this" Ian said in a lower voice, trying to calm both himself and his nephew down. Though it failed miserably because that only refueled Alex's anger.

"You have absolutely no idea how horrible and disgusting life was for me those first few years" the younger started again "In the span of those first few years I went from being an average innocent little teenager to being diagnosed with an alcohol disorder, about 15 different sleep disorders oh yeah and let's not forget depression! And to top it off Jack forced me into therapy cause I was slowly going insane!" Alex broke off and took a harsh deep breath "So in summary Ian, you basically ruined my life. Congrats old man, you ruined it."

There, he'd said it, all the words he'd held in his heart since he was 14. All the things he'd imagined telling Ian for about eight years now had finally come out. Alex looked up to see an unreadable expression upon his uncle's face.

"I know Alex…I know" his voice was much softer than it had been a second ago. It made Alex feel a bit weird inside…yelling at someone using that tone of voice-as though he was shooting at an unarmed man. "It's a bit different though" Ian's voice shook the slightest bit "Hearing you say it yourself…"

Alex wasn't sure how to reply to that. A sudden sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach, something he couldn't describe in words. And just as he opened his mouth to say something, he heard the door to the room open once again and Kurst stepped into view.

"Alright then" he clapped his hands together "Alex, I'll need you to come with me, hopefully you won't make things difficult so I won't have to use the men standing outside this room to knock you out before bringing you where I need you to be."

"Sure…" he muttered slowly stepping out of the cell as Kurst opened the door for him.

"That's a good boy" Kurst cooed.

Alex took one last look at his silenced uncle before leaving the room, his captor at his side.

***Ok, if you haven't read the short story companion piece to this, Infragilis Vinculum, then you probably have no idea who Tobey or Anna is. Well Tobey a bit because he's mentioned in the previous chapter but Anna is explained more in depth in I.V as Tobey's girlfriend. But if you've read I.V you already know that. If you haven't read it please do because in a couple of chapters a few things from it will be brought back here and it'll make no sense without having read I.V first =] **

**Alright, I hope that wasn't too rough. I just thought Alex would have something like this on his mind and he could hold it in for so long. I know it was a little rushed but hopefully it doesn't stand out as much as I think it does XD**

**Anywho, let me know what you thought about Jacen's part in specific and please Review!! =]**


	11. Desicions

**Hey guys, sorry for the wait, I was a little bit busy. I meant to upload this on Friday when I had a snow day and was out of school(Yay!!!!) but my internet was being stupid so that didn't happen. Anywhoooo here's the next one for you. Enjoy!!**

Jacen suddenly spotted a dent in the middle of the walls. He cocked a brow at it, well that was odd. A random dent right in the middle of the wall. He walked up to the dent and peered into it, not very surprised when he saw right through it into another room, rather than the darkness of a normal dent. He sighed, stepped back and then, with all the force he could sum up in his slightly weakened and shaky right leg, kicked the wall. He was pleased when the entire thing came crumbling down at his feet. Jacen's vision suddenly blurred at the impact, but he quickly shook it off; it was no time to be feeling off color.

The other agents froze to see the damage their leader had just done.

Once the dust cleared, it revealed a small room similar to the one that hid it. But upon looking it over, he frowned. It was empty all except an elaborate writing in red liquid (Jacen could only guess what that was) on the white floor. Other than that, the room was completely empty. Kurst must have had his men clear the office of everything Sanclair was doing. Jacen turned back to the writing in the middle of the room: Trop tard ! Désolé ! Vos deux garçons seront prochains…

It translated to: Too late! Sorry! Your two boys will be next…

Jacen put a hand to his forehead and turned away from the words that caused his heart to clench the slightest bit. "Someone clean that up" he ordered roughly.

He began to walk out of the room when little black splotch on the bottom right corner of the white walled room. Moving closer though, he saw it wasn't a splotch, rather a bunch of scribbles in black ink. He peered closer at the neat, almost microscopic script. "Hey, someone take a picture of this" he called, not taking his eyes off the words.

He moved over a little as one of his men came and crouched next to him, snapping a quick shot of the wall with some new type of MI6 camera or other.

"What does it say, sir?" the agent asked peering closer at it himself.

"It's not in English…it's…Latin" Jacen said squinting harder "Shit, of all the things, Latin?"

"Is there a problem, sir?"

"Why Latin? I'm a 22 year old guy, my Latin's more than a little bit rusty" Jacen sighed. "Do you know anything?"

"Do I look any older than you?" the agent chuckled. Jacen smiled a bit. "No I guess…"

"My name is James Bevel, by the way. Head of MI6 Security Division" James said holding out a hand.

"Jacen Kraell" Jacen smiled, taking the hand. After a brief but firm shake, the two men turned back to the wall.

"Do you want us to bring in a translator?" James asked.

"No, no, too much time" Jacen shook his head "I'll manage." He looked closer and began to read: Si flowra esurio externus iunctum , totus quietus infinitio ostendo sum infinitas infinitio adversarius praesumo nisi absentis. Bis auditus in septem ratio havine emulatan nusquam in Olympus res. Sepulchrum oculars evello igneus endus habitus reverto super foris res.

Jacen furrowed his brows as he translated the words in his mind. "What…the fuck?" he wondered out loud.

"What is it?" James frowned

"These words…they make little to no sense" Jacen said slowly. "It's just a whole bunch of words...."

"What exactly does it say?"

"If flowers yearn outer unity, all resting eternities reveal endless adversaries dare if not gone. Twice heard in seven theories having emulated nothing in heavens abnormal verdict epitomes deprived internal eases done-Gone out twice on best eden doomed real ounces of mass" Jacen recited with a bit of hesitation "Make any sense to you?"

James shook his head. "But if I might make a suggestion, maybe it's not supposed to be read that way…"

Jacen turned to his agent with a raised brow. His head violently pulsed once again but he forced it back.

"Why don't you try to read it like an acronym and see if that works" James suggested "The English acronyms…I'm sure the Latin would have been too obvious, should this be a hidden message."

Jacen shrugged and decided to give it a shot. He gathered the first letter of every word from the English translation and put them together in his mind.

"If you are reading this…then I have died-Go to bedroom…" Jacen exchanged a look with his companion before they both shot up and dashed for the bedroom. The vaguely registered the other agents shooting glances their way but paid no mind. They kicked in the door of the bedroom where two agents were already looking around.

"Sir, we were just going to call you" one of them said turning from a point on the wall "We just found some sort of written manuscript or something of that sort on this wall over here."

The agent barely finished before James and Jacen pushed him aside to look at the wall. And there it was, all the way at the bottom, so small it was barely readable. Jacen looked closely at it. It was much longer than the last.

"If he wrote this out in plain sight, then why didn't any of the SCORPIA men see it?" James raised a brow at Jacen.

"They were in a hurry; they had to get all of it done before we got here. It's exactly why they didn't get to fix the entrance to the secret room fast enough" Jacen answered reading the text across.

James gave his leader a moment before asking "What does it say?"

"It's in almost 20 different languages. He switched languages every other word…" Jacen shook his head "It says…god…It says 'Here goes nothing. If you are MI6 then this will go to good use. If you are not and somehow manage to read this, then congratulations you will probably cause the destruction of England now. But it doesn't matter to me now, I am dead. So in hopes that you are MI6 I instruct you to go to Resturanté À Amour and ask for the waiter Acel Delmon. Tell him you came under word of Karl Aleron and that you need the letter. Go now, SCORPIA works faster than you know.'"

"Á Amour…" James muttered "That's the last place Sanclair was spotted…"

"Yes, but why would he hope this to be read by an MI6 agent?" Jacen furrowed his brows.

"I don't know, but maybe that letter he was talking about could help us" James said standing up "Let's go."

"Yeah" Jacen sighed, following "We should."

"But before you do…you should probably get that arm of yours checked up" James pointed out.

"I should…" Jacen muttered "And I should probably make sure I don't have a concussion too. Or if I broke my back…or my left knee…"

"Hey" Jacen stopped one of the passing agents "Get a drink to get him back up" he ordered quickly. The agent rushed off to do as he was told.

"Do you want me to drop you off at our special med-center, and I'll go pick up the letter?"

"No…I'll come with you" Jacen shook his head. "If I pass out in the process then you have permission to ship me off wherever you please."

"Are you sure you don't want to rest? This is definitely not going to do you any good…" James insisted.

"No. We have to finish this. I refuse to rest until I find Alex and Ian" Jacen said adamantly "You have no idea how important they are to me."

"A personal mission?" James raised a brow.

"Yes…this is a personal mission" Jacen sighed. At that moment the agent ordered by James returned, approaching him with an can of some energy drink or other "Here sir, it'll help you."

"No, no" Jacen shook his head "First lesson with Ian, energy drinks-not good."

James chuckled "Let's go" he said leading his (safe to say) partner out of the house. "So Ian Rider was a teacher of yours?"

"You don't even know the half of it."

* * *

Alex looked around the small room that Kurst had brought him into. There were no windows, nothing but bare grey walls aside from the door. In the center of the room was a small wooden table with a chair on both ends and…a chess set in the middle?

Alex raised a brow at it. A chess set? Really?

"Please, have a seat" Kurst gestured towards one of the seats. Alex hesitantly did as he was told. Kurst took the seat opposite him. "Ever played chess before, Alex?"

"Occasionally" Alex answered skeptically. "How is this going to help you, do tell."

"It isn't, this is just a simple exercise in which we'll just talk" Kurst shrugged, moving forward one of his white pawns. "Your move."

"Talk?" Alex raised a brow, moving one of his own pawns.

"Yes talk" Kurst nodded moving a piece "Your uncle taught you how to play chess when you were four and a half, no?"

"I don't want to talk about my uncle now" Alex said stiffly, moving a piece forward.

"Ah, have a little row, did we?" Kurst raised his brows.

"…No" Alex muttered, taking out one of Kurst's pieces.

"Then why are you so hesitant to speak of your beloved uncle?" Kurst drawled.

"I just don't want to" Alex said taking another piece.

"I happened to hear a little bit of what happened-"

"You had us on surveillance…" Alex growled in sudden realization.

"Just briefly. The cameras in the holding cells are a bit rusty anyways, one minute their fine the next minute they're out cold, what to do, what to do, and the mechanics haven't come in, in ages" Kurst rolled his eyes dramatically "Anyway, I heard a bit of your conversation, and let me tell you, I agree with you. What your uncle did to you was terrible." This time Kurst took one of Alex's pieces.

"Yeah, nice job at trying to play at my side" Alex smirked moving a piece forward.

"You know, I had a uncle too" Kurst sighed, ignoring the previous statement "Grew up with the old fellow. My parents were too busy killing each other to deal with me."

"Making up a story for me, now are we?" Alex raised a brow.

"Whether you chose to believe me or not is your choice. But it is the truth" Kurst shrugged "Anyway, I remember my uncle so clearly. Good man, he was. Always took me out fishing, pick me up from school; stand up for me in front of the bullies. God I loved that guy…"

Alex snorted, lovely, all the things _his_ uncle never did for him.

"My uncle died in a car accident" Kurst said slowly.

"Can you mock me in a less painful way?" Alex smirked "This is tearing me to bits."

"I didn't mean to do that Alex. Honestly. This is just supposed to be a talk" Kurst said drumming his fingers together in front of himself "Your move."

Alex looked down on the board. He hadn't realized how far they'd gotten into the game. He moved a piece.

"Well, if my speaking about my uncle is tearing you apart" Kurst leaned forward "Then why don't you tell me about your uncle?"

"I think you know him better than I do" Alex felt a little sick hearing those words come out of his mouth. Hearing the truth come out of his mouth.

"I know him from my point of view…what is he from your point of view?"

"Not much. Just a lying, deceiving, inconsiderate, absent bastard straight from hell" Alex growled, the same rage from before suddenly rising inside him again "Not to mention he's probably Satan's son too…"

"Hmm" Kurst smirked "Ian never liked his own father either, though I didn't see the problem with Tony; he was quite the agent. Never got him in one of my cells here…ever."

"I don't…I don't care about him. I don't even know him; I don't know anything about anyone…" Alex muttered absentmindedly.

"I didn't want to mention this in front of Ian…in fear of him snapping in front of us right then and there, but he's responsible for many more deaths than you know, Alex" Kurst said.

"Yeah, no shit, he's an MI6 agent. He kills like he breathes" Alex smirked "We all do."

"He killed his parents…" Kurst sighed "Ian is a very twisted person, Alex. Much more than you will ever be. And I understand why. I mean if I were responsible for the deaths of my entire family-"

"My grandparents died on a mission, how was that Ian's fault?" Alex raised a brow.

"Your father was supposed to on that last mission with them-except he stayed back, not only because he had an injured leg-that wasn't even the half of it" Kurst began "It was mostly because Ian had just gotten into some trouble…I'm not going to mention what-I believe Ian likes the fact that you respect him to some degree, and we want to keep it that way. But he had gotten into some serious trouble and his parents wanted John to keep an eye on him while they were away. Have their perfect son look after the rotten one…"he paused to register Alex's expression "John's leg wasn't too badly injured and it was a simple mission-he could have gone if he wanted. But his parents had him stay back. And just maybe, if he had gone along he would have been able to spot that bomb underneath the car…"

Alex wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"I wouldn't trust Ian very much if I were you…" Kurst said slowly "Never know what he can do to get you…killed. You are after all the son of the man that basically overshadowed his entire existence…"

Alex remained silent.

"If you took him out before he took you…" Kurst almost whispered "Checkmate."

Alex looked down at the board and indeed saw a checkmate.

"Come with me Alex…" Kurst looked him in the eyes with an almost threatening glare "And together we can tear apart the man that ruined your life…"

Alex stared hard at Kurst before a small smile-a bittersweet smile came upon his lips. And he opened his mouth to speak…

**Cliffhanger!! Dun dun dun!!! Is Alex going to give in?? You'll see soon, I already have half the next chapter written up =D **

**So I introduced a new oc here named James, I just thought Jacen could use some company on his quest for Alex and Ian. **

**Also another thing, in a little bit I'll be uploading a new short story thats a companion piece to this called Amicitia Instituo. It's basically about Jacen and Ian's meeting along with their first mission together. Just a little thing I thought would make an interesting read =] So I'd really appreciate it if you guys checked that out. And for those of you that reviewed, put an alert or favorited Infragilis Vinculum, thanks a million, love you guys. It killed me to end that story(cause I looooved it) and I'm replacing the void with this new story. So go check it out XD**

**And as usual, Review!!**


	12. Conversations&Conciergerie

**Woah, it's been a while. I just like died of off fanfiction for a few weeks 0.o Where does time go? Whoa....*shakes head* Anyways I'm back, and here's the next one =] It killed me to think of a name for this chapter (bet you just went and checked the name XD) I mean I literally sat in front of my computer for a good hour before I finally thought of a reasonable name XD **

**Enjoy!!**

Frankly speaking, Jacen was incredibly shocked that he hadn't passed out yet. Not to mention he was driving a motorcycle with a broken arm, what was probably going to end up as a concussion, a broken (or at least fractured) knee cap about 50 miles over the speed limit. He was _driving_! That in itself was a miracle.

"Doing alright there?" a voice spoke through the intercom in Jacen's helmet. He turned his eyes from the road for a second to look the the motorcycle driving at his side, moreover the man driving it. "I'm alright, James. At this rate I'm going to die from your nagging before my injuries..."

"Oh, just drive" James smirked.

"That's all I ask to do" Jacen smiled, knowing he had won. The two were speeding towards the restaurant Sanclair had described through his dying notes; A Amour. And they weren't letting anything slow them down. Anything.

"You know, this has to be the fifth red light we've beaten..." Jacen muttered into his comm.

"Yeah, more like the fifteenth" James snorted "Doesn't matter though."

"Why ever not?" Jacen rolled his eyes. He was more than used to breaking countless laws for the sake of a mission (it was a rather nasty habit he'd picked up from Ian that had gotten him in trouble on more than a few occasions...) but he couldn't help but ask.

"For the same reason you're not under a life sentence right now for all the things you've done" James answered "After we complete the mission, it counteracts everything we did wrong."

"Thank god or I'm sure I'd have criminal records to last me the rest of my life..." Jacen chuckled.

They shot past one more light before turning the corner and screeching to a halt in front of their destination. James decided to wait outside, should anyone unwanted or suspicious approach. Jacen on the other hand stormed into the small diner. He barely caught a glimpse at the rather modern looking interior before shooting over to the counter and grabbing a hold of the first waiter he saw.

"I need to speak to the waiter Acel Delmon immediately. Tell him it's about Karl" he growled at the teenage waiter, who Jacen was sure was now terrified into oblivion due to his icy, demanding tone of voice. Just another thing he picked up from Ian-it always got answers faster.

"Y-yessir" the waiter answered before rushing off to the back.

Jacen sighed and shifted his weight to his right side. He tapped his foot impatiently and glanced unsteadily around the diner until he was approached by a man. He was not too much taller than Jacen, short black hair and piercing green eyes. He had a light complexion and a thin, but strong jaw line. For a waiter at a rather friendly looking diner, he had an awful amount of scars littered across his arms and face, down to his neck-Jacen furrowed his brows at this. But the man simply strode carefully over to Jacen and eyed him suspiciously.

"I'm here under word of Karl Aleron" Jacen replied before the man could even open his mouth "I need the letter."

"Ah yes, he said one of you people would be coming around for it" Acel nodded "I'll need to see identification though. In case you're really SCORPIA in which case you'll probably kill me now, but that's not the point...i.d?"

Jacen wasted no time to whip out his MI6 id and flash it at the waiter, who nodded. Acel then reached into his apron and pulled out a small rolled up piece of paper. "Hey, fix this mess, alright? You look young but you're MI6; I'm sure you can pack a punch."

Jacen, now a bit confused took the paper and began to walk away, but stopped as Acel called back to him.

"Hey, don't waste time reading it here. Read it while you head over to Conciergerie."

"The..." Jacen trailed off raising a brow.

"The Conciergerie" Acel repeated "Your boy outside should know where it is." He gestured out the door to where James was standing, a hand on his gun holster. "he's an international security agent, isn't he?"

Jacen wasn't even going to as how he figured that out, so he simply nodded.

"He'll know. Now go" Acel ordered.

Jacen just nodded in both agreement and thanks before tightening his grip on the letter and heading out the door. He stepped out of the diner and began to walk back towards his bike. James was at his side immediately "What happened?"

"He gave me the letter, told me to read it on the wait to the Conciergerie. Do you know where that is?" Jacen said quickly.

"Of course, it's a bit of a ride but we can get there" James said.

"The bikes can get us there?"

"Er-that won't be necessary" James stopped walking just as they reached the bikes.

"Why not?" Jacen raised a brow.

"Because I called on a little bit of backup and an extra ride while you were gone" James shrugged "The last thing we need is you facing off against people of SCORPIA half dead."

Jacen just raised the brow higher. James chuckled and printed over the agent's shoulder. And upon turning around, Jacen spotted at group of least a hundred some men standing outside their police mini-vans. And just behind him, stood a smooth, slick silver masterpiece of a car. He assumed that was his and James's ride.

He turned back to James "You have no idea...how much I love you right now."

James grinned "You can tell me later when you recommend me for a promotion. For now, we have people to save so if you don't mind" he cleared his throat and turned to face he men "Commencing Operation Rider! Destination: The Conciergerie!"

Immediately all hundred some men entered their vehicles and the sound of their engines roaring to life filled the air. James and Jacen began moving to their own ride. James however walked past the car and gestured a man and a woman remaining outside towards Jacen. He whispered something to them before turning back to Jacen and calling over "Jacen, these guys will be with you, he's your driver and she's your medic, got it?"

"And what about you?" Jacen called back.

"I'm a commander; I'd get kicked off my post for intruding upon my leader's privacy!" James replied with a smile.

"Bullshit" Jacen growled "Today there are no ranks. You and I are equals. The medic might come in handy but _you're_ driving for me, James Bevel-And that's an order."

James's small smile turned into a grin as he gladly accepted the offer "Yes, sir!" He jogged back to the car, the medic behind him. Once he was there, he got into the driver seat and started up the engine. Jacen and the medic got into the back.

"Alright, are we all ready?" James asked as he pulled on his seatbelt. He glanced back at the medic (who was getting her things out) and Jacen through his rear view mirror.

"Absolutely" Jacen nodded.

And with that word, James floored the accelerator and shot out of A Amour's parking lot, fifteen police vans behind him.

* * *

With the bittersweet smile still on his face, Alex finally replied:

"Sounds good to me. I accept your offer."

Kurst's face immediately lit up in victory "Wonderful. Tell me though, do you really agree with my ideals? All that I've just told you?"

"No" Alex's expression suddenly darkened and he stood up, glaring at Kurst. "Had you for a minute there, didn't I? How dare you try to turn me against Ian?"

Kurst opened his mouth to speak, but Alex cut him off.

"How dare you try to turn me against the man that means the world to me?" he narrowed his eyes "I don't care if it kills me, Ian is my uncle-my father's brother" he semi-consciously corrected himself "And nothing will ever make me turn away from him. Especially not you. So do me a favor and return me to the cell where even the gray floors serve as better company than you."

Kurst's expression was hardened, and his voice was chillingly cold "Very well then, the guards outside will escort you back."

"Thank you" Alex glared at Kurst one last time before turning and stepping out the door, slamming it shut behind him.

A minute later, he found himself roughly shoved back into his previous holding cell, where a less than happy uncle awaited. Though even as the locks were shut and the guards left, Ian did not look up from his corner on the floor.

Alex stepped closer to him, unsure how to go about this-hell he didn't even know what "this" was! After having said all that stuff to Kurt's face he felt a bit stupid about acting like a spoiled child with Ian moments earlier. And he knew he owed the older an apology. But how to do that...

He decided to stop thinking-shut down his brain for a minute and let his heart do the work. He crouched down in front of Ian and looked up at him, even though Ian's gray eyes were still glued to the floor.

"Hey..." Alex muttered "I'm sorry." There, short and to the point.

And much to Alex's surprise, Ian looked right back at him, and with a faint bittersweet smile, whispered "I know..."

"You..." Alex sat down in a comfortable position, his eyes on his uncle the whole time "You know?"

"I know" Ian nodded "And I'm sorry too. And we may not have lived with one another for the past eight years, but I'm sure we're close enough to be able to skip the explanations."

"Yeah" Alex chuckled "We're both fucked up...period."

"Alexander Tony Rider, you will not use that kind of language in my presence" Ian said with mock authority in his voice.

"_Ian_" Alex whined "I'm not a little boy anymore."

"Yes," Ian said, his voice now switching to mock tearfulness, much like a woeful mother "But you'll always be a little boy to me."

Alex looked down "Guess that's why you were kinda upset when you heard all the things that happened to me, eh?" he looked back into his uncle's eyes.

"Yeah..." Ian sighed "Yeah...I guess that's it..." He looked up at the young man in front of him-his brother's son-his brother's full grown son. God, had it really been 22 years? "Jesus, Alex, you know sometimes I look at you and it's really hard to believe you really are my nephew..."

"Jack says that sometimes" Alex chuckled.

"And right she is!" Ian said "I mean, look at you! Have I told you how much you look like your father?"

"In the past few days, yes, enough to make up for the 22 years you forgot to" Alex replied.

Both men sighed heavily, relaxing in each other's presence.

"Ian?" Alex asked suddenly after what seemed like hours of silence between the two of them.

Ian simply looked up in response.

"I know this is a little random...but speaking of my father....how well did you know Ash?" Alex looked down as he saw Ian visibly stiffen.

"Clearly not very well if I couldn't see that he was out to get my own brother" Ian spoke in a barely audible voice.

"Something tells me you don't like him very much..."

"I never did like him. Even before when he was still John's best friend, I didn't really like him. He gave off a bad vibe" Ian shrugged.

"And my dad couldn't see that?"

"He is dead today, isn't he?"

Silence. Geez, how did you answer such a bitter response?

"Ash told me you were away during my parents' wedding. That he was dad's best man..." Alex said finally, recalling a whole bunch of things Ash had told him.

"Bullshit. I got my 17 year old ass beat by Blunt because I canceled a mission for my brother's wedding" Ian paused "Ash told you that?"

Alex nodded.

"What a load of bullshit" Ian huffed.

"What? The things he said or Ash himself?" Alex raised a brow

"Both."

Alex thought for a moment before hesitantly speaking "You were jealous of him?"

"What?" Ian snorted as if it was the most absurd thing in the world.

"You know...that dad spent so much time with his best friend..."

"Jealousy was just a word I used to cover the fact that I hated Ash. It seemed more human and believable for a teenager to have been jealous than to have suspected his brother's best friend to be a murderer" Ian replied with a shrug.

"Ash told me he joined SCORPIA because Blunt degraded him by comparing him to my dad. Said he joined because Blunt humiliated him" Alex said, unable to help his need to know more of the truth.

"Alex, I had to hear that from my very own father every single day till I was almost 17. You didn't see me running off to kill John, now did you?" Ian snorted.

"Yeah...guess your right..." Alex muttered "Did you ever go after Ash? You know…for killing my parents?" he added after a while.

"I did. Bastard knew I was coming for him though. He knew us Riders very well; knew we were very serious when it came to things like revenge. He disappeared before I could get to him. I tried so hard to find him again, but it just didn't happen…And then after a while I guess I just realized there were people who deserved my attention more than Ash" Ian flashed a playful wink at his nephew. Alex laughed.

But his laughter was short lived, as the door to the room suddenly opened and Kurst stepped into view.

"Well hello again, my experimental pretties..." Ian noticed Kurst was looking anywhere but at Alex. He vaguely wondered what had happened in the brief time he had alone with his nephew.

"Gee Zelj. I'd love to tell you the same but you don't seem to have gotten any prettier..." Ian shook his head. Alex choked back a laugh.

"And you, no more a pleasure to be around..." Kurst rolled his eyes "But how witty, and horrendously talented you are at being utterly annoying-and how it runs through the family-is beside the point. I cleared out one of the best rooms in the facility, just for you two" he grinned at Ian "It's your old room, Ian. I had to...rent it out for a little while, but it's all yours again."

Ian rolled his eyes with a mutter if "lovely."

"I figured I should probably get my most important guests out of this rat hole and into a prettier room with maybe a bed and get you a little food too, considering I need you alive and you certainly won't be alive without food, will you?" Kurst explained simply "So, if you'll be so kind as to follow me..."

Both the Riders sighed and turned to face one another. No sense in going against what Kurst had for them, was there?

They both stood up to be lead out.

**I hope that ending didn't sound too rough. And I hope that the topic of Ash didn't come up too abruptly, but I really needed to get how he is in my universe across. To me and the story everything he said in Snakehead is bull and it was all basically a lie, and I needed to get that across. Hopefully that worked out alright.**

**On a different note, I'm a little brought down that my review count has dropped since the first chapter*tear tear* I'm scratching my head wondering why but hopefully that'll change soon and I'll try to put a little more into my writing and put more into making sure it's perfected.**

**Also for those of you who haven't done so already, I'd really appreciate it if you guys went and checked out the newest companion piece to this story called Amicitia Instituo (which I will update soon) which is about Jacen and Ian's time together. **

**Reviews are greatly loved and appreciated!! =]**


	13. Notes&Deals

**Hey guys, I know it's been a while, sorry. Life's just been getting in the way a bit and it really took me a while to finish up this chapter which in all honesty is a bit of a filler. But here it is anyway, a long times worth of effort =] **

**Plus if you haven't read the companion piece to this (Infragilis Vinculum) yet then do it NOW. The last half of this chapter will make very little sense if you haven't. So again if you HAVEN'T read Infragilis Vinculum, do it before you read this =]**

**Enjoy!**

"So, what's your name?" Jacen said to the medic before him. He was currently sitting in the backseat of his ride to the Conciergerie. He was seated-or more lying in front of the woman who was his medic. James had called her in telling Jacen that she was one of his closest friends in the department. So while James was driving, he was leaned back carefully against the armrests, one leg up on the seat and the other, lazily touching the floor of the car. And had it been a less serious situation, it would have been the slightest (or maybe very) awkward for the female medic to have been seated between his legs, leaning towards him to dab the blood off the gash on his forehead.

"As cute as you are, don't you think it's a bad time to try to get a date?" the woman replied, not looking up from her work.

James snorted from the driver's seat.

"Shut up, James" Jacen muttered, making James burst out in laughter.

"My name's Sienna" she replied, saving Jacen any more humiliation.

"Thank you for making that more complicated than it had to be" Jacen muttered. Sienna in return pressed a bit of rubbing alcohol directly into a cut, making Jacen hiss in pain.

"Jacen, my man, you should know better than to talk back to a woman by now" James laughed.

"Clearly the shut up memo didn't get through-" Jacen's reply was cut off with a flinch which was caused by a bit more alcohol. He looked back to Sienna, as if to ask what that was for but she wasn't looking at him, rather to the wound she was treating, so he assumed it wasn't on purpose.

He began to look away, but suddenly decided against it. Instead he looked harder at the rather pretty (he had just decided) woman before him. She had slightly wavy dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. Fair skin and a sharp face. She was actually..._quite_ pretty...

"Agent Kraell" she said snapping Jacen out of his thoughts. Her eyes were still glued to the forearm she was bandaging. "I would very much appreciate it if you didn't look at me that way" her eyes flickered to his "I'm married...to James"

"Oh" Jacen breathed. His expression nor his tone of voice changed-he was trained to do that. But somehow he couldn't stop the "oh" from getting through. There was a bit of an awkward silence before James cracked up.

"Oi, Jacen, loosen up, she's just kidding. You have to be maybe the twentieth agent to fall for that one!"

It took Jacen's mind a while to process that last bit, but once it did, he looked back to Sienna and saw here smiling a bit mischievously. "Oh."

"Are you capable of any words besides small talk, demands and oh?" she smirked.

Jacen opened his mouth to speak but found himself at a loss for words. How did one reply to that kind of comeback?

Thankfully at that moment, James stepped in "And for the record Jacen, Sienna's like my sister, so she's yours for the taking."

"No" Sienna glared at the back of James's seat "She's not. Especially not to Mr. Oh, here."

"Leave him alone Sienna" James said with a chuckle.

"Why ever should I spare him?" Sienna replied, now moving to the small gashes littered across Jacen's neck and collarbone.

"Because I owe him my life" James said "A superhero, this one. Asked us if we had our parachutes and then dived out the thirtieth floor window" he laughed remembering the situation of less than two hours ago. "No order, no instructions, nothing, just jumped out the window. Of course we followed and a second later our entire floor blew into bits."

Sienna's eyes widened a bit "Interesting..."

Jacen smiled at her amusement. He attempted to sit up a little straighter, but failed as a sharp pain shot up his right arm.

"Hey, easy there superman, that's dislocated" Sienna berated with a hint of concern. "The best I can do for that now is push it back into place..."

"And it's gonna hurt like hell..."

"But it'll be better than just leaving it this way" Sienna frowned.

Jacen took a moment to think "Do it."

"Alright, if you say so..." Sienna said slowly, moving closer to him and taking a hold of his dislocated right arm. She looked up at him as if to ask him if he was sure. He simply nodded. So with one sharp snap, she shoved his arm pack into place and Jacen, who was overcome with the pain of the move, bit his lip and leaned forward in an attempt to mask it. It took him a while before he realized that in leaning forward, he had pushed his face dangerously close to that of the young woman treating him. He stopped breathing for a second, afraid she would look up and freak out seeing him so close.

She just kept her eyes on the now twitching muscles of his arm. But when she did look up, she neither moved nor breathed. Why hadn't she noticed before how deep his light gray eyes were?

They stared at each other for a long time before- "Jacen, have you read that letter yet?" James called back.

Jacen's heart suddenly leapt back from his throat and hit the bottom of his stomach, triggering a bit of an "Oh yeah...life" sensation.

"No" he swallowed and reached a hand into his pocket where the letter had been stowed. He unrolled the small piece of paper and held it up to his face and began to read out loud:

_To whom it may concern,_

_First off, you my friend, are either an MI6 agent who has gotten a hold of this message through the instructions in my house. Or a SCORPIA member who has killed Acel for it. I sincerely pray for the former, therefore I shall write the letter addressed as such. Now, if you haven't already been informed by Blunt, you should know that I was NOT a SCORPIA agent. I was an undercover MI6 agent. _

Jacen paused and looked to the rear view mirror, through which James was looking back at him.

"Shit..." Jacen muttered. But James shook his head and told him to continue reading.

_I am an undercover agent that has been tailing SCORPIA for a very long time, flagging down their bases and locations as one of their members, doing my best to stay hidden in the process. If you are reading this then I probably haven't done as good a job as I would have liked to. I am writing this because I think Mr. Kurst suspects me. So in case he does come after me, you should know the following. From what I've gathered so far, the newest base of Kurst's is still in the works. He is still building it up. It is located in the underground areas of the Conciergerie. Now though it is a tourist sight today, several hundred years ago it was a holding area for prisoners that would later be taken to the gallows. Thousands of people died in that place and it's a rather busy area. A completely inconspicuous place for a hideout, and it helps that Kurst knows how to keep quiet too. He has payed a more corrupt end of the government an incredible sum for 4.5 million Euros to allow him to use the basement area with no questions asked. The basement of the Conciergerie is not your average basement. It is actual a maze of underground tunnels that no one bothered to reconstruct once it was turned into a tourist sight. The tunnels run for hundreds of miles and have many rooms in between. I believe Kurst has reconstructed several of them for his own personal use including holding captive prisoner-_

Jacen glanced at James once more.

"Keep going..." James said slowly.

_And storage for all his twisted experiments. I'm sure by now you are setting you are planning on heading over there yourself. Instead of just barging in there threatening to kill the receptionist if he doesn't show you the way, I'll make things a hundred times easier for you. The receptionist will not recognize your face; there's a different person there every other minute. But what you need to tell him/her is that you are there to meet Mr. Gordon about the Russian Trade Operation. Your pass code is 4H54J56 and your name is Gareth Cray. And for MI6's sake, don't fuck this up. Good luck agent, and I hope with all my life that you live to see more days than myself. _

_Jean Sanclair_

Silence reigned the inside of the car. Jacen ran a hand through his hair in a frustrated manner before finally speaking. "Well, first off I should probably let Blunt know he's dead..."

And though he spoke more to himself than anyone else, James still nodded. Jacen pulled out his iphone with his good arm. He smiled at the device for a while. Ah the very same phone that he'd gotten with Ian. It's been almost a decade. He set the fond memory aside and went through his contacts before stopping on one and hitting the call pressed the phone to his ear and got two rings before the voice of Tulip Jones came from the other end:

"Kraell, why the hell are you on my cell phone?"

"It's important" Jacen replied, smiling at her irritated response.

"Why didn't you call Blunt's office , the MI6 office or even my extension at my office? Or better, why not Blunt's phone?"

"Are you kidding? He'd kill me!"

"And what makes you so sure I won't?"

"You love me too much to kill me!"

"I told them not to put you with Ian. I told them you'd pick up more bad than good, I told them..."

"Anywho..."

"Yes, why exactly have you so gracefully decided to ruin my Saturday morning?"

"Listen, I have word on Jean Sanclair..."

"Our undercover agent? Yes, what of him?"

"He's dead."

"He's..."

"Yes, you heard me right, he's dead. He found out the location of the new base and left a posthumous letter for me to figure it out too. I'm heading there right now. I just thought I'd let you know that."

"Oh, alright, I'll let Mr. Blunt know."

"Good. I'll get going then."

"Alright. Good luck Jacen...bring those two back safely, alright?"

"I will, goodbye."

"Bye."

A small click signaled the end of the call, and Jacen returned his cell phone to his pocket. He looked up to the rear view mirror "James, how much longer till we get there?"

James glanced back "No more than a few hours. Unfortunately for us, the Conciergerie is on the complete other side of Paris. But not to worry..." he paused as he flipped a panel on the dashboard revealing a series of buttons. "This thing can go faster."

Jacen couldn't help but grin and as he turned to face Sienna, found her feeling the same.

"Excellent."

* * *

Alex and Ian were calmly lead through the hallways of Kurst's base. Four guards behind them, and four ahead of them, all lead by Kurst himself. Though neither agent was paying much attention to that. They were both observing their surroundings as they'd been trained to do for years.

The hallways were narrow and wound in every which direction but one. Kurst had to be a genius to actually know where the hell he was going. And just like the walls of their previous cell, the walls of the halls were a dull and worn out. It looked as though they were underground, by the looks and feel of the place.

It was a good ten minutes or so before Kurst finally stopped at one of the many doors that lined the halls. It was a bit larger than the other doors and looked a bit newer. Kurst opened the door through the sensor at the side and held it open for his prisoners. "Please, after you" he said gesturing inside.

Both the Riders shot him a look before stepping in. Alex blinked several times in surprise as he stepped into a blindingly white room instead of a dingy little cell akin to the rest of this dump. Ian on the other hand didn't look one bit fazed by the look of the room.

"Look familiar?" Kurst drawled closing the door behind himself, making the room completely white, all the way. Save the small unstable looking bed in the far right corner of the room.

"Sickeningly" Ian replied. "I am so touched that you bothered to recreate my old cell...especially after I exposed your last base" he spat. But before he could say anymore, his cheek was met with the back of Kurst's palm.

"You shouldn't take pride in something like that, Ian. It's what'll make your life miserable forever, and for you own sake, do try to keep me happy" Kurst said in an attempted cheery voice.

"You seem determined to keep me here" Ian smirked.

"Oh, I passed determined a long time ago" Kurst said in a low voice. "Anyway, I have other business to deal with at the moment. But I'll be back soon."

To this Alex smirked, and then froze as Kurst caught him with the expression of hate. Alex stared at him hard, expecting him to do something, but they both ended up staring at one another for an uncomfortable period of time. "What, you're not gonna clip _me_ across the face?" Alex deepened his smirk.

"Oh heavens no, I'll just make a mental note to bodily injure Ian a bit more the next time I have to experiment" Kurst shook his head with a smile "It hurts you far more."

Alex allowed a low growl to escape from his throat before Kurst turned away from him and headed for the door.

Once it was shut behind him, Alex kicked the ground. "Shit!"

Ian simply looked up to him with a raised brow.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Alex growled at the door "I can't believe he's doing this! Damn it!"

"Alex, calm down. Freaking out is just what he wants you to do" Ian said as he walked to the bed "Come, sit. Relax."

Alex sighed and took a seat next to his uncle on the bed. (which creaked miserably as he did.) "So how the fuck are we going to get out of this dump and kill that bastard?"

"Watch what you say in here Alex" Ian said quickly "The walls and ceiling are one way transparent."

"What?" Alex furrowed his brows.

"We can't see or hear outside but he can do both inside at any time he wants" Ian explained "I found that out the hard way..."

"Not even gonna ask" Alex sighed. He suddenly kicked his shoes off, pulled his feet up onto the bed and lay down, his outstretched legs just barely touching Ian's back on the way to the end of the bed. He closed his eyes and for a moment, tried to relax.

"Hey, Alex?" Ian called after what seemed like hours.

"Yeah?" Alex muttered back, pulling himself out of the slight doze he was in.

"I've been wondering this for a bit now...I don't think I really had the courage to ask though..." Ian paused for a moment before continuing "What happened to Tommy and Alaina?"

Alex remained still for a long time before opening his eyes and sitting up. He took a breath and hesitated before speaking "They're both..."

He didn't need to say any more for Ian to get the message. His jaw fell open the slightest bit. He had mentally braced himself for that answer, knowing it was a good possibility, but hearing the actual words took him completely off guard. He couldn't believe...Tommy and Alaina? It seemed so unrealistic...

"W-what happened" he forced himself to speak.

"The beginning is still a bit fuzzy to me...Tommy didn't talk too much about it, but a few months after you were 'killed' Alaina was killed as well. As far as Tom told me, someone broke into the house-possibly an old enemy or something like that and...well killed her. Furious, Tom went after them and he...well he never came back..." Alex explained slowly. "It was like Tom knew they were gonna kill him...he even had a whole goodbye speech planned out for me before he left..."

"They're both..." Ian trailed off.

"I know. To this day, I can't really believe it..." Alex picked up the thought. "It was hard, you know...dealing with your death and then less than a year later, Tommy and Alaina...Lucky I didn't kill myself right then..."

Ian felt a little sick at the last few words. A feeling of guilt suddenly set in again. It was all his fault. If he hadn't let Tobey die-if he had been more careful that day coming back from Cornwall...none of this would be happening. Tommy, Alain and Tobey would be alive and his nephew wouldn't be one disorder short from a complete psychopath.

"'s not your fault" Alex said softly, closing his eyes again. "I know you're sitting here blaming yourself right now, but it's not your fault."

"So you're saying you enjoy being like this?" Ian raised a brow.

"Not that I enjoy it, but look at the person it's made me. I am a great person and it's only because of the things I've been through. I don't think I'd trade the world for that" Alex replied.

"Yeah but-"

"Ian, stop, I thought we already went through this. It's not your fault, alright?" Alex said with a bit more force. He opened his eyes and sat up, staring hard at his uncle. "Just try to accept that."

"Alright, I've got a deal for you then" Ian chuckled "If I accept that it's not my fault you'll stop flipping out over being held captive here?" He held out a hand to his nephew.

Alex smiled a bit "Alright deal."

And with that they shook on their new agreement.

**The end...was a bit edgy, I know. But again, I really had to drag myself through this chapter. The next one though is going to be action packed and a lot faster paced, I promise =] **

**On a different note, about Sienna, I decided it would be cute to bring in a mild love interest for Jacen. It's up to you guys to decide whether you want it to remain as just a crush or if once the mission is over, it should get a little more serious. You're the reader, you tell me =]**

******On another note, for those of you who are waiting on my other stories, **Savin' Me, Amicitia Instituo or Permaneo Lacuna, I'll be updating those very soon to so keep a heads up =]

**Review!!**


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